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THE  LIBRARY 

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THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

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RICHARD    COBDEN 

THE      INTERNATIONAL     MAN 


BOOKS   ON    RICHARD   COBDEN 

The  Life  of  Richard  Cobden.  Bv  the  Right  Hon. 
Lord  Morley,  MA.  (Oxford),  Hon.  LL.D.  With 
Photogravure  Portrait  from  the  Original  Drawing 
by  Lowes  Dickinson.  Jubilee  Edition.  (Re- 
former's Bookshelf.)  2  vols.  Large  cr.  8vo,  cloth  ...  7/- 

Cobden  as  a  Citizen.  A  Chapter  in  Manchester 
History.  Containing  a  facsimile  of  Cobden's 
pamphlet,  "Incorporate  Your  Borough!"  with  an 
Introduction  and  a  complete  Cobden  Bibliography, 
by  William  E.  A.  Axon.  With  7  Photogravure 
Plates  and  3  other  Illustrations.  Demy  8vo,  full 
vellum  or  buckram        net  21/- 

The  Political  Writings  of  Richard  Cobden.  New 
Ldition.  With  Preface  by  Lord  Welby  and 
Introductions  by  Sir  Louis  Mallet  and  William 
CULLEN  Bryant.  With  Frontispieces.  2  vols. 
(Uniform  with  the  Jubilee  Edition  of  Morley's  "  Life 
of  Cobden.")     Large  cr.  8vo,  cloth 7/- 

Speeches  on  Questions  of  Public  Policy.  By 
Richard  Cobden.  Edited  by  John  Bright  and 
James  E.  Thorold  Rogers.  With  a  Preface  by 
James  E.  Thorold  Rogers,  and  Appreciations  by 
J.  E.  Thorold  Rogers  and  Goldwin  Smith,  and 
2  Photogravure  Portraits.  Fifth  Impression.  2  vols. 
Large  cr.  8vo,  cloth.  (Uniform  with  the  Jubilee 
Edition  of  Morley's  "  Life  of  Cobden.")       7/- 

PUBLISHED     BY     T.     FISHER     UNWIN     LTD. 
1      ADELPHI      TERRACE,      LONDON,      W.C.  2. 


RICHARD     COBDEN 


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RICHARD    COBDEN 

THE     INTERNATIONAL      MAN 


BY 


[.     A.     HOBSON 

AUTHOR    OF    "WORK    AND    WEALTH,"    "THE    NEW 
PROTECTIONISM,"    ETC. 


WITH     A    PHOTOGRAVURE 
AND    OTHER    ILLUSTRATIONS 


'   T.     FISHER     UNWIN     LTD. 
LONDON:    ADELPHI    TERRACE 


First  published     .     .    January  igig 
Second  Impression     .     January  igig 


(All  rights  reserved) 


lo 


DA 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  .... 


POEM    BY    AN    UNKNOWN    AUTHOR    IN    HONOUR 


OF    RICHARD    COBDEN  .  .  .  .8 

PREFACE  .......       9 

CHAPTER    I 

Cobden's  Preparation  for  Politics    .  .  .     15 

CHAPTER    II 

Cobden  as  Pamphleteer  .  .  .  .26 

CHAPTER   III 

The  Tour  in  Europe,   1846-7  .  .  .40 

CHAPTER   IV 

The  Policy  of  Non-Intervention,  1850-2   .  .     54 

CHAPTER   V 

Palmerstonian  Foreign  Policy  .  .  -73 

CHAPTER   VI 

The  Crimean  War     .  .  .  .  .106 

1  J  -m 


Contents 

CHAPTER   VII 

PAGE 

Peace  and  Recovery  .  .  .  .  .   135 

CHAPTER   VIII 

The  China  War  and  the  Indian  Mutiny  .  192 

CHAPTER   IX 

An  Interlude  of  Peace  ....  233 

CHAPTER    X 

The  French  Treaty  .....  242 

CHAPTER   XI 

Correspondence,  1861-4  ....  278 

CHAPTER    XII 

The  Civil  War  and  the  Sumner  Letters  .  331 

CHAPTER    XIII 

COBDEN    AND    MODERN    INTERNATIONALISM  .  .    387 

INDEX       .  .  .  .  .  .  .411 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Bust  of  Cobden    by  Thomas   Woolner,  Sculptor  and 

Poet    ......     Frontispiece 

In  the  biography  of  Woolner  written  by  his  daughter,  Amy  Woolner,  is  the 
following  letter  to  Mrs.  (afterwards  Lady)  Tennyson,  wife  of  the  Poet-Laureate  : 

"29  Welbf.ck  St.,  W. 

"July  27,  1865. 
"My  Dkar  Mrs.  TENNYSON,— The  Emperor  has  accepted  my  bust 
of   Cobden  and    the  correspondence  on   the   subject   is   soon  to   be 
published  in  the  papers. 

"  Mo=t  truly  vours, 

••Thomas  Woolner." 

The  Emperor  was  of  cour-:e  Napoleon  III.  The  bust  which  he  accepted  was 
deposited  in  the  Palace,  Versailles.  Duplicates  of  the  bust  were  mads  by  Woolner 
and  are  in  Westminster  Abbey  and  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

FACING     PAGE 

Arles  Dufour       .  .  .  .  .  -44 

From  a  carte-de-visite. 

Henry   Richard,   1812-88  .  .  .  .     58 

From  a  cabinet  photograph  by  Messrs.  Elliott  &■  Fry. 

John  Bright,  Richard  Cobden,  and  Michel  Chevalier  172 

From  a  carte-de-visite  by  Maujean  of  Paris. 

The  Treaty  of  Commerce,  i860  .  .  .  252 

Group  portrait  of  British  and  French  politicians  who  were  the  immediate  actors 
and  agents  in  the  framing  of  this  treaty  of  commerce  between  France  and 
England.  It  is  the  photographic  work  of  Mr.  Easthman  of  Manchester.  The 
illustration  is  from  an  engraving  in  the  Illustrated  London  AVics  for  March  i,  1862. 

Eugene  Rouher,   1814-84  ....  258 

From  a  carte-de-visite. 

Frederic  Bastiat,   1801-50         ....  272 

From  an  engraving. 

Charles  Sumner,  181 1-74  ....  332 

From  a  photograph. 

"The  Cobden  Madonna"  ....  388 

A  marble  bas-relief,  probably  by  Pietro  Lombardo,  in  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Venice, 
which  bears  that  sobriquet  because  Cobden  wrote  his  name  on  it  In  1847.  It 
commemorates  the  reduction  of  duties  on  corn  during  a  severe  famine  in  the 
reign  of  one  of  the  Mocenighi  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  End 
Papers  are  embellished  by  a  reproduction  of  a  portion  of  this  bas-relief,  showing 
Cobden's  signature. 


Pure-kcarted  hero  of  a  bloodless  fight, 
Clean-handed  captain  in  a  painless  war, 
Soar,  spirit,  to  the  realms  of  truth  and  light, 
JYhere  the  just  are  ! 

If  one  poor  cup  of  water  given  shall  have 
Due  recognition  in    the  Day  of  Dread, 
^Angels  may  welcome  this  one,  for  he  gave 
*A   nation  bread. 

His   bays  are  sullied  by  no  crimson  stain  ; 
His   battles  cost  no  life,  no  land  distressed  ; 
The  victory  that   closed  the  long  campaign 
The  vanquished  blessed. 

No  narrow  patriot   bounded  by  the  strand 
Of  his  own  isle,  he  led  a   new  advance, 
And  opened,  -with  the  olive-branch   in  hand, 
The  ports  of  France, 

Charming   base  hate  of  centuries  to  cease, 
And  laying  upon  humble  piles  of  Trade 
Foundation  for  that  teeming  reign  of  Peace 
For  which  he  prayed. 

This  the  sole  blot  on  -which  detraction  darts, 
Willing  to  make  his  rounded  fame  decrease — 
That  in  his  inmost  soul  and  heart  of  hearts 
He  "worshipped  Peace, 

But   One  blessed  'Peacemakers  long  years  ago  ; 
And  since,  in  common  clay,  or  stately  vault, 
Seldom  has  Hero  rested,   stained  by   so 
Superb   a  fault. 

Author   Unknown. 


8 


PREFACE 

The  close  attachment  of  the  name  of  Richard  Cobden  to 
the  overthrow  of  the  protective  system  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Free  Trade  in  our  fiscal  arrangements  has  tended 
to  obscure  the  wider  policy  of  international  relations  which 
this  great  achievement  was  designed  to  serve.  Even  if 
we  add  to  the  six  strenuous  years  of  his  Anti  Corn-Law 
agitation,  crowned  by  the  Act  of  repeal,  the  later  negotia- 
tion of  the  French  Commercial  Treaty,  we  cover  but  a 
single  section  of  his  ever-widening  activity  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  sound  principles  of  foreign  policy.  Cobden  was 
first  and  always  what  his  French  comrade,  Emile  de 
Girardin,  called  him,  "  an  international  man."  His  foreign 
policy  was  couched  in  the  single  term  "  non-intervention." 

Protective  tariffs  and  other  trade  impediments  were 
condemned,  not  merely  or  mainly  because  they  made  food 
dear  and  otherwise  impaired  the  production  of  national 
wealth,  but  because  they  interfered  with  the  free  and 
friendly  intercourse  of  different  nations,  bred  hostility  of 
interests,  stimulated  hostile  preparations,  and  swallowed 
up  those  energies  and  resources  of  each  nation  that  were 
needed  for  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  peaceful  progress. 

Non-intervention  may  appear  to  some  a  cold  and 
negative  and  a  wholly  insufficient  conception  of  interna- 
tionalism. To  Cobden,  however,  it  was  the  only  safe  and 
sure  condition  for  the  play  of  the  positive  forces  of  human 
sympathy  and  solidarity  between  the  members  of  different 
political  communities.  Let  Governments  cease  to  inter- 
fere and  then  peoples  will  discover  and  maintain  friendly 

9 


Preface 

intercourse,  first  in  the  mutual  interchange  of  goods  and 
services  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  common  needs,  then 
in  growing  co-operation  for  all  the  higher  purposes  of 
life.  Foreign  statecraft,  as  he  saw  it  throughout  history 
and  in  his  own  time  and  country,  was  little  else  than  a 
mischievous  interference  with  the  natural  harmony  of 
peoples.  The  keystone  of  our  foreign  policy  was  a 
balance  of  Powers  conceived  as  essentially  hostile  to  one 
another  ;  the  conduct  of  that  policy  was  in  the  hands  of 
an  aristocratic  caste  governed  by  dynastic  traditions  and 
working  by  secret  diplomatic  methods  wholly  divorced 
from  popular  influence  and  interests.  Cobden  saw  how 
easy  it  was  for  an  ambitious  or  bellicose  statesman  to  appeal 
to  the  righting  spirit  of  our  people  by  the  pursuit  of  a 
spirited  policy  directed,  now  against  the  aggressive  inten- 
tions imputed  to  our  traditional  enemy  France,  now  against 
the  rising  menace  of  Russia,  and  again  for  the  punishment 
of  some  injury  or  insult  imputed  to  some  weaker  State — 
Turkey,  Greece,  China  or  Japan.  His  parliamentary 
career  virtually  coincided  with  the  Palmerstonian  era,  in 
which  began  to  sprout  the  seeds  of  the  modern  imperialism, 
distinguished  from  the  earlier  processes  of  territorial 
aggrandizement  by  the  plainer  and  more  conscious  action 
of  commercial  and  financial  interests  handling  the  levers 
of  State  policy. 

More  widely  travelled  than  any  other  British  statesman 
of  his  time,  Cobden  had  concerned  himself  far  more  closely 
with  the  material  and  industrial  conditions  of  the  different 
countries  which  he  rightly  regarded  as  the  chief  con- 
siderations in  the  art  of  good  government,  and  viewed 
with  intense  suspicion  and  contempt  the  dangerous  super- 
ficialities of  the  Foreign  Offices  of  Europe.  His 
writings,  speeches  and  letters,  furnish  the  fullest  and 
most  enlightened  commentary  upon  our  foreign  and 
imperial     policy    during    the    long    period     of   Victorian 

10 


Preface 

history  which  comprised  such  critical  events  as  the 
Crimean  War  and  the  Indian  Mutiny  in  our  own  affairs, 
the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  the  American 
Civil  War  and  the  early  stages  in  the  development  of  the 
supremacy  of  Prussia  in  Germany. 

This  volume  does  not  pretend  to  give  this  commentary 
in  its  completeness.     It  was  designed,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  rescue  the  memory  of  Cobden  from  the  narrow  mis- 
interpretations to  which  it  has  of  late  been  subjected,  by 
giving  stronger  emphasis  to  his  international  work.      For 
this   purpose  it    is  proposed  to  publish  collections  from 
his  correspondence   which    either    had   not   been   printed 
before,   or  which  had   not   been   made   accessible   to   the 
general  public.     The  most  important  of  the  new  material 
consists  in  the  close  correspondence  between  Cobden  and 
the   Rev.    Henry   Richard,  for  many   years   Secretary  of 
the    Peace    Society,    an     active    editorial    writer    in    the 
Morning  Star,  and,   after    Cobden's    death,    Member    of 
Parliament    for    Merthyr    for    twenty    years.      Cobden's 
letters   to   Mr.    Richard  date  from    1849  to   1865,  and, 
with  certain  gaps,  form  a  pretty  continuous  and  searching 
commentary  upon  every  aspect   of  our  foreign   and   im- 
perial policy  during   that   period,  with  a  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  damaging  backstrokes  which  the  Palmer- 
stonian  policy  dealt  to  British  Liberalism  and  the  cause 
of  peace,   retrenchment   and   reform   with   which    it   had 
been  associated.      His  early  labours  for  the  reduction  of 
competing    armaments,    the    new   cause  of    international 
arbitration  and   the  abolition  of  the  right   of    "  capture 
at    sea"   of   mercantile    vessels    and    cargoes,    and    other 
"  pacific  "'  causes  to  which  his  voice  and  pen  were  con- 
stantly   addicted,  are    discussed    in    these    letters  with   a 
freedom  and   enthusiasm   which   throw  fresh  light  upon 
his  public  career   as  well   as  upon    the   inner   history  of 
these  movements.      Not  less  profitable  are  the  numerous 

11 


Preface 

passing  criticisms  upon  the  new  power  of  the  popular 
Press  and  the  abuses  to  which  it  was  exposed,  and  the 
failure  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  Radicalism,  after  the 
Free  Trade  success,  to  respond  to  the  new  demands  of 
democratic  progress.  The  dangers  which  lay  in  the  refusal 
of  our  people  to  realize  that  the  enlargement  of  communica- 
tions and  trade  intercourse  with  the  outside  world  meant 
that  the  key  to  every  cause  of  internal  reform  lay  in  the 
control  of  Foreign  Policy,  were  continually  in  the  fore- 
front of  Cobden's  mind.  No  man  of  his  time  realized 
so  clearly  how  a  tacit  conspiracy  of  the  leaders  of  the  two 
great  parties  operated  to  support  militarism,  the  Balance 
of  Power  and  a  spirited  foreign  policy,  so  as  to  absorb  the 
money,  men  and  interest  needed  for  home  development. 

Though  these  letters,  for  the  use  of  which  I  am 
indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Miss  Evans,  a  niece  of 
Mr.  Richard,  form  the  staple  of  many  of  these 
chapters,  I  have  made  large  use  of  other  material, 
partly  speeches  and  published  essays,  partly  letters, 
most  of  which  have  been  published  already  either 
in  the  standard  "  Life "  by  Lord  Morley  or  in 
less-known  and  less-accessible  works,  such  as  the 
"  Reminiscences  of  Richard  Cobden  '  by  Mrs.  Salis 
Schwabe,  the  Anti  Corn-Law  Circulars,  and  the  Ameri- 
can Historical  Review.  From  this  last  source  are 
recovered  several  long  and  valuable  letters  written  to 
the  American  statesman  Charles  Sumner,  and  which,  with 
others  lying  in  the  collection  in  the  Harvard  Library  and 
hitherto  unpublished,  furnish  an  important  commentary 
upon  the  international  aspects  of  the  American  Civil 
War,  and  in  particular  upon  the  opinions  and  sympathies 
of  the  various  sections  of  the  British  people  in  that 
critical  time.  For  the  arrangements  for  transcribing 
these  letters  we  are  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the 
late  Professor  Charles  Eliot  Norton. 

12 


Preface 

Though  Cobden  was  no  friend  to  formal  political 
alliances,  he  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  English  statesman 
who  fully  realized  the  importance  of  our  people  cultivating 
the  closest  friendship  with  the  peoples  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  one  hand,  and  of  France  upon  the  other. 
More  clearly  and  much  earlier  than  others,  he  foresaw 
the  rapid  rise  of  the  commercial  and  political  status  of  the 
great  Western  Republic  and  the  part  she  was  destined 
to  play  in  the  spheres  of  world  commerce  and  world 
politics,  and  he  realized  the  importance  of  cultivating 
good  relations  with  this  powerful  blood-relation  and 
neighbour.  But  even  more  significant  was  the  per- 
sistence of  his  efforts  to  bring  our  Government  and 
people  into  friendly  relations  with  those  of  France,  and 
to  dissipate  those  clouds  of  suspicion  which  ignorance, 
pugnacity  and  mistaken  interests  were  constantly 
generating.  Cobden  was  perhaps  the  first  English 
statesman  who  expressed  a  desire  for  an  entente  cordiale 
between  our  people  and  the  French,  and  the  Com- 
mercial Treaty  which  he  negotiated  was  the  first  valid  act 
in  bringing  about  that  permanent  improvement  of  rela- 
tions which,  with  one  or  two  brief  relapses,  has  lasted 
for  more  than  half  a  century. 

While  Cobden's  international  doctrines  and  activities 
are  chiefly  set  forth  in  letters,  speeches  and  extracts  from 
his  pamphlets,  arranged  with  brief  introductory  notes,  I 
have  thought  it  worth  while  in  an  introductory  and  a  con- 
cluding chapter  to  attempt  some  appraisal  and  interpreta- 
tion of  his  internationalism  in  the  light  of  subsequent 
events  and  the  changes  of  policy  to  which  these  events 
and  reflection  upon  them  have  brought  most  of  those 
who  to-day  regard  themselves  as  internationalists. 


13 


RICHARD    COBDEN 

THE    INTERNATIONAL    MAN 
CHAPTER   I 

COBDEN'S    PREPARATION    FOR    POLITICS 

The  process  of  "settlement"  to  which  the  reputation  of 
a  great  public  man  is  subjected  after  he  has  passed  away 
is  almost  inevitably  attended  by  grave  misrepresentations. 
The  commonest  form  of  that  misrepresentation  consists 
in  dramatizing  some  single  episode,  or  aspect,  of  his 
career  and  in  assigning  it  to  him  as  his  sole  and  exclusive 
property.  The  career  of  Richard  Cobden  lent  itself  with 
peculiar  facility  to  this  popular  falsification.  For  though 
his  public  life  was  one  of  numerous  and  varied  activities, 
his  direct  contribution  to  positive  and  concrete  statecraft 
lay  almost  entirely  within  the  special  field  of  commercial 
liberty  with  which  his  name  is  commonly  associated. 
Few  great  public  men  in  any  age  or  country  have  by 
their  own  personal  effort  contributed  so  largely  to  the 
complete  achievement  of  any  great  national  policy  as 
Cobden  contributed  to  Free  Trade.  For  though  he  had 
powerful  coadjutors,  two  at  least  of  whom  figured  with 
equal  prominence  in  the  eye  of  contemporaries,  John 
Bright  on  the  platform  and  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Peel  as  the  executant  minister  of  the  reform,  popular 
opinion  decided  that  Cobden  was  the  determinant  per- 
sonal influence,  and  posterity  has  recorded  this  judgment 

15 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

by  fastening  upon  the  Free  Trade  movement  the  title 
"  Cobdenism."  This  has  secured  imperishable  fame  for 
Cobden,  but  at  a  heavy  expense  to  the  true  greatness  of 
the  man  and  of  the  wider  statecraft  which  he  sought 
to  make  prevail. 

The  misrepresentation  has  been  twofold  and  con- 
flicting. On  the  one  hand,  he  has  been  charged  with 
a  narrow  and  grovelling  commercialism  ;  on  the  other, 
with  a  vague  cosmopolitan  idealism.  The  prolonged 
revival  of  fiscal  controversy  during  the  last  fifteen 
years  has  familiarized  our  generation  with  these  in- 
consistent, presentations  of  Cobden  and  the  Free  Trade 
doctrines  and  policy  of  which  he  was  the  most  successful 
exponent.  The  first  view  shows  us  Cobden  and  his  Man- 
chester School  reducing  the  whole  of  politics,  including 
the  honour  and  the  vital  interests  of  his  country,  to  terms 
of  trade  and  money-making,  conducted  under  the  single 
principle  of  buying  in  the  cheapest  and  selling  in  the 
dearest  market.  Government  was  simply  to  stand  aside 
and  keep  a  ring  within  which  this  sordid  struggle  of  the 
material  interests  of  individuals,  classes  and  nations  was 
to  take  place,  on  the  assumption  that  its  outcome  would 
be  the  maximum  of  wealth  and  material  prosperity.  Nor 
was  it  really,  these  critics  commonly  contended,  an  equal 
regard  for  the  material  interests  of  all  classes  of  the 
people  that  underlay  the  policy.  It  was  the  interests 
of  the  manufacturers  as  against  the  "  landed  interests," 
and  the  interests  of  Capital  as  against  Labour  in  the  manu- 
factures. Even  cheap  food,  the  prime  motive  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  was  chiefly  valued  as  the  neces- 
sary means  of-  keeping  money-wages  and  costs  of  pro- 
duction in  the  new  manufacturing  districts  so  low  as  to 
enable  our  cotton  and  other  exported  goods  to  hold  and 
to  extend  their  world-markets.  Even  those  who  are 
aware  that  Cobden   personally  neglected  a  thriving  busi- 

16 


Cobden's  Preparation  for  Politics 

ness  of  his  own  and  incurred  heavy  pecuniary  sacrifices 
in  following  a  political  career,  have  often  stigmatized  him 
as  dominated  by  the  commercial  interests  and  aspirations 
of  the  new  ambitious  business  class,  the  product  of  the 
industrial  revolution,  which  sought  to  displace  the  aris- 
tocracy and  to  impose  upon  their  country  a  definitely 
"  business  government."  Others,  or  often  the  same  men 
in  a  different  mood,  fastening  upon  his  enthusiasm  for 
free  commerce  as  the  great  pacific  and  harmonizing 
influence  in  international  relations,  the  intrinsic  logic 
and  morality  of  which  was  destined  at  no  distant  time 
to  banish  the  fear  of  war  and  to  liberate  the  forces  of 
human  brotherhood,  derided  him  as  a  dangerous  visionary 
who  ignored  the  lessons  of  history,  and  believed  in  the 
rapid  establishment  of  a  millennium  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity for  all  the  peoples  of  the  world. 

Now  each  of  these  opposing  views  is  a  travesty  of  the 
truth,  though  taken  together  they  tend  towards  a  recog- 
nition of  the  truth.  Cobden  did  strongly  believe  that 
the  prosperous  middle-class  business  men  were  the  chief 
present  instruments  of  political  and  social  progress,  and 
that  the  more  power  they  had  the  better.  Their  pros- 
perity was  certain,  by  the  operation  of  laws  as  moral 
as  they  were  economic,  to  redound  to  the  advantage 
of  their  fellow-men,  both  their  own  employees,  the 
nation  of  whom  they  were  a  part,  and,  through  the 
operation  of  free  commerce  and  communications,  to 
humanity  at  large.  Capital  had  no  separate  interest 
from  Labour,  the  accumulation  of  savings  for  profitable 
employment  increased  the  wage-fund  and  improved  the 
condition  of  labour.  If  the  political  and  economic 
power  and  privileges  of  landlordism  could  be  curbed, 
by  removing  food  taxes  and  making  land  more  acces- 
sible to  those  who  could  use  it,  it  all  legal  or  other 
obstructions  to  the  free  movement,  sale  and  employment 

I7  B 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  capital  and  labour  could  be  removed,  the  enlightened 
self-interest,  primarily  of  the  manufacturers  and  com- 
mercial men,  would  tend  to  a  production  and  a  dis- 
tribution of  wealth  among  the  various  classes  of  the 
community  which  would,  by  giving  a  solid  basis  of 
industry  and  material  prosperity,  afford  a  new  leverage 
to  all  the  forces  of  civilization. 

In  mind,  as  in  the  concrete  conditions  of  his  policy, 
Cobden  was  necessarily  to  a  large  extent  the  creature 
of  his  age.  That  age  was  pre-eminently  and  some- 
what hardly  utilitarian  and  rationalistic  in  its  thought 
and  endeavours.  The  new  power  of  machinery  as 
the  instrument  of  wealth  and  social  changes,  coin- 
ciding with  the  rapid  extension  of  scientific  conceptions 
to  human  character  and  history,  brought  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century  among  the  educated  classes  an  im- 
mense and  excessive  confidence  in  the  pace  and  thorough- 
ness with  which  great  political  and  social  transformations 
could  be  accomplished.  The  revolutionary  rationalism, 
of  Godwin,  Shelley  and  the  youthful  Coleridge,  still 
survived  in  the  more  austere  and  complex  political 
philosophy  of  Bentham  and  his  school  of  philosophic 
Radicals,  while  the  widespread  enthusiasm  with  which 
the  amazingly  audacious  proposals  of  Robert  Owen  for 
a  New  Moral  World  was  greeted,  not  by  ignorant  mobs 
but  by  persons  of  responsibility  and  learning,  testifies  to 
an  extraordinary  fervour  of  rationalistic  idealism.  In  this 
confidence  in  enlightened  self-interest,  operating  first  on 
the  material  plane,  there  was  nothing  really  base,  or 
selfish  in  the  bad  sense,  or  fundamentally  materialistic, 
for  below  all  immediate  appeals  to  individual  self-interest 
there  lay  a  law  of  social  harmony.  It  was  to  this  general 
body  of  thought,  contained  in  definite  principles,  that 
Richard  Cobden  from  his  youth  steadily  adhered,  and 
the    consistency    and    energy    of  his    public    work    were 

18 


Cobden's  Preparation  for  Politics 

attributable  mainly  to  the  powerful  and  vivid  appre- 
hension of  these  principles.  Most  politicians  are 
primarily  opportunists,  and,  even  if  they  sincerely 
entertain  general  principles,  discover  that  they  are 
seldom  able  to  apply  them  with  any  measure  of 
severity.  Cobden  was  not  in  this  sense  an  oppor- 
tunist. He  insisted  upon  a  degree  of  intellectual  and 
moral  consistency  in  the  application  of  principles  which, 
while  precluding  him  from  office  and  the  direct  exercise 
of  governmental  power,  made  him  a  powerfully  in- 
vigorating and  educative  influence  in  his  age,  and  in 
one  important  sphere  of  policy  enabled  him  to  achieve 
remarkable  results. 

An  enthusiast  for  principles  is  almost  of  necessity 
an  optimist,  not  only  as  regards  the  ultimate  fate  of 
humanity,  but  as  regards  the  pace  at  which  ideas  can 
be  realized.  In  a  concluding  chapter  I  shall  discuss 
more  fully  the  causes  which  have  obstructed  the  suc- 
cessful advance  of  Cobden's  principles.  It  is  here 
sufficient  to  recognize  how  untrue  is  the  suggestion 
that  Cobden  was  an  ordinary  middle-class  politician 
whose  success  consisted  in  the  stubborn  pursuit  of  a 
commercial  policy  accommodated  to  the  ideas  of  his 
time  and  the  interests  of  his  class,  or  that  he  was  a 
wild  dreamer  who  led  his  country  into  dangerous 
dependence  upon  foreigners  in  pursuit  of  a  vague 
vision  of  cosmopolitanism.  It  is  true,  as  Lord  Morley 
recognizes,  that  Cobden  was  an  optimist  tempera- 
mentally, as  well  as  by  intellectual  conviction.  "  In 
his  intrepid  faith  in  the  perfectibility  of  man  and  of 
Society,  Cobden  is  the  only  eminent  practical  statesman 
that  this  country  has  ever  possessed,  who  constantly 
breathes  the  fine  spirit  of  that  French  School  in  which 
the  name  of  Turgot  is  the  most  illustrious."  » 
1  "  Life  of  Cobden,"  i.  p.  94  (Jubilee  Edition). 

19 


Richard  Cobdcn  :   The  International  Man 

If  man  will  only  believe  and  apply  the  doctrine  of 
mutual  aid,  his  perfectability  and  that  of  Society  are 
evidently  attainable.  And  so  the  central  principle  of 
Cobden  is  that  of  the  harmony  of  men,  irrespective 
of  political,  racial,  or  linguistic  barriers,  by  means  of 
organized  mutual  aid.  "  He  believed  that  the  interests 
of  the  individual,  the  interests  of  the  nation,  and  the 
interests  of  all  nations  are  identical :  and  that  these 
several  interests  are  all  in  entire  and  necessary  concord- 
ance with  the  highest  interests  of  morality.  With  this 
belief,  an  economic  truth  acquired  with  him  the  dignity 
and  vitality  of  a  moral  law,  and  instead  of  remaining 
a  barren  doctrine  of  the  intellect,  became  a  living  force 
to  move  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men."  1 

It  is  impossible  to  understand  the  character  and 
political  career  of  Cobden,  or  the  part  which  his  Free 
Trade  activities  play  in  his  policy,  without  a  firm  grasp 
of  this  guiding  and  ruling  principle.  Cobden  was  not, 
as  he  is  sometimes  represented,  a  commercial  gentleman 
who  came  to  elevate  to  the  dignity  of  an  international 
principle  a  policy  of  free  exchange  which  he  valued  in 
the  first  instance  as  good  for  his  country,  and  then  by 
implication  and  extension  good  for  the  world  at  large. 
It  is  quite  true  that  early  in  his  public  career  he 
came  to  the  conviction  that  free  importation  was  essential 
to  the  trade  and  human  prosperity  of  his  country,  and 
that  it  was  the  chief  key  to  a  sound  foreign  policy.  But 
this  policy  was  always  conceived  as  belonging  to  a  wider 
philosophy  of  human  relations  which  for  our  immediate 
purpose  may  be  summarized  as  non-intervention.  That 
term,  however,  though  useful  for  some  purposes  as  in- 
volving a  fixed  and  consistent  protest  against  governmental 
and  other  interference  with  human  beings  in  the  peaceful 
pursuit  of  their  own  material  and  moral  interests,  does 
1  "  Cobden's  Work  and  Opinions,"  by  Lord  Welby,  p.  18. 

20 


Cobden's  Preparation  for  Politics 

not  convey  the  full  meaning  of  the  positive  body  of 
thought  which  Cobden  had  absorbed  from  such  thinkers 
as  Adam  Smith  and  his  own  personal  friend  Combe. 
The  conception  of  a  reign  of  law,  which,  on  the  one 
hand,  related  the  physical  and  moral  structure  of  man 
to  his  history  and  environment,  on  the  other,  built  up 
an  ordered  scheme  of  human  society,  operating  by  free 
social  intercourse,  and  dependent  upon  the  co-operation 
of  diverse  tastes  and  capacities  in  different  material 
surroundings,  came  as  a  captivating  revelation  to 
thoughtful  men  of  the  early  nineteenth  century.  This 
free  human  co-operation,  transcending  the  limits  of 
nationality  and  race,  was  the  positive  force,  intellectual 
and  emotional,  of  which  non-intervention  was  the  nega- 
tive condition.  The  reason  why  the  latter  term  and  the 
meaning  it  conveyed  came  to  have  so  much  importance 
was  the  impulsion  which  the  new  social  thought  gave  to 
the  political  and  economic  campaign  of  liberation.  Re- 
move the  fetters  and  obstructions  which  governments, 
laws,  and  customs  have  placed  upon  the  free  play  of  the 
harmonious  forces  which  bind  man  to  man,  let  their  real 
community  of  interest  have  full  sway  to  express  itself  in 
economic,  intellectual  and  moral  intercourse,  the  false 
antagonisms  which  now  divide  nations,  classes  and  indi- 
viduals, will  disappear  and  a  positive  harmony  of  man- 
kind be  established.  So  the  removal  of  barriers  upon 
human  intercourse  came  to  have  the  value  of  an  actually 
constructive  policy,  liberating  as  it  did  the  forces  of 
social  harmony  to  weave  their  own  pattern  of  human  co- 
operation. Wealth,  security,  happiness  and  every  form 
of  progress  were  to  be  won  in  this  war  of  liberation. 

To  modern  men  and  women  it  may  seem  strange 
that  this  policy  should  be  conceived  so  exclusively  or 
primarily  in  terms  of  governmental  non-intervention. 
There  are  so  many  other  modes  of  human  oppression  and 

21 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

inequality,  especially  within  the  national  areas.  It  seems 
difficult  to  us  to  realize  how  acute  and  public-spirited 
statesmen  like  Cobden,  Bright  and  Gladstone,  should  have 
lived  a  long  public  life  without  recognizing  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  ownership  of  land  and  capital,  the  control 
and  motivation  of  industry  and  the  visible  class  cleavages 
thus  created,  social  diseases  even  deeper  seated  than  those 
which  engaged  their  reforming  energies.  But  we  must 
remember  that  the  intellectual  atmosphere  of  early  nine- 
teenth-century politics  was  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
revolt  against  what  were  considered  artificial  restrictions 
upon  individual  liberty  imposed  by  class  governments, 
and  with  a  profound  conviction  that  enlightened  self- 
interest  operating  through  free  contract  or  free  competi- 
tion was  the  true  instrument  of  individual  progress  and 
of  social  harmony. 

It  is  true  that  there  were  various  sorts  of  bondage  to 
be  broken,  that  which  a  State  Church  set  upon  the 
religious  spirit  of  man,  the  bondage  of  ignorance  and 
vice  in  a  country  where  education  was  a  monopoly  of 
the  well-to-do,  the  political  and  social  tyranny  exercised 
by  the  aristocracy  as  landowners,  legislators  and  dis- 
pensers of  justice.  The  Liberalism  into  which  Cobden 
grew  was  by  no  means  blind  to  these  great  needs,  and  all 
through  his  public  life  his  sympathies  responded  power- 
fully to  these  reforming  notes.  But  while,  as  Lord 
Morley  says,  "  he  never  ceased  to  be  the  preacher  of  a 
philosophy  of  civilization,"  his  personal  experience,  his 
demand  for  practical  achievement,  and  his  sense  of  order 
in  progress,  early  determined  his  personal  contribution 
to  the  great  cause.  That  contribution  was  not  Free 
Trade,  but  internationalism.  Free  Trade,  though  driven 
home  to  him  by  his  early  experiences  of  life  as  a  great 
national  need,  soon  took  its  proper  place  in  his  thought 
and   heart  as  the   instrument  and  vehicle  of  internation- 

2% 


Cobden's  Preparation  for  Politics 

alism.  Sometimes  this  policy  has  been  described  as 
cosmopolitan.  But  if  this  signifies  that  Cobden  was 
indifferent  to  the  sentiment  of  national  patriotism,  or 
thought  that  one  country  was  just  as  good  as  another, 
the  appellation  is  singularly  ill-applied.  Widely  travelled 
as  he  was,  and  appreciative  of  the  qualities  of  many 
foreign  nations,  Cobden  always  remained  in  personal 
tastes  and  sympathies  profoundly  English.  Moreover, 
his  internationalism  was  intellectually,  as  well  as  emo- 
tionally, an  application  of  the  principles  of  national  self- 
interest,  and  of  the  human  obligation  under  which  a 
nation  more  enlightened  and  more  advanced  in  the 
arts  of  government  and  commerce  lay  to  extend  by 
pacific  means  to  other  peoples  its  own  advantages. 
To  stigmatize  the  doctrine  of  non-intervention,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  a  selfish  nationalism,  is  equally 
mistaken. 

Cobden's  early  travels  upon  the  Continent  of  Europe 
and  in  America,  in  which  definitely  business  objects 
were  combined  with  wider  political  and  social  studies, 
contributed  to  give  substance  to  what  otherwise  might 
have  remained  merely  general  opinions  and  aspirations. 
Alike  as  a  Free  Trader  and  an  International  Man,  he 
enjoyed  great  advantages  over  other  statesmen  by  reason 
of  the  wider  and  closer  knowledge  of  the  condition  of 
the  people  in  his  own  and  other  countries  which  he 
gained  in  the  formative  period  of  his  life.  The  cotton 
trade,  which  he  entered  as  a  clerk  when  fifteen  years  old, 
was  doubly  rooted  in  internationalism,  drawing  its  mate- 
rials entirely  from  foreign  soil,  and  dependent,  as  it  soon 
became,  for  its  prosperity  and  profits  upon  the  expansion 
of  its  world  markets.  When  with  two  friends  he  first 
entered  business  on  his  own  account  as  a  commission 
agent  for  calico-printers,  soon  afterwards  to  undertake 
the  work  of  calico-printing  itself,  he  was  filled  with  the 

23 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

enthusiasm    which    greeted    everywhere    the    miraculous 
rise  of  Lancashire  as  the  great  exporting  area. 

His  early  years,  as  commercial  traveller,  had  given 
him  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  own  country,  includ- 
ing Scotland  and  Ireland,  and,  as  soon  as  circumstances 
permitted,  he  took  to  foreign  travel,  partly  for  business, 
partly  for  relaxation,  but  largely  for  social  and  political 
information.  Though  a  certain  amount  of  foreign  travel 
for  pleasure,  perhaps  a  grand  tour,  formed  part  of  the 
equipment  of  a  good  many  active  young  members  of  the 
governing  classes,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  no  man 
of  his  time  entered  the  House  of  Commons  with  so  sound 
a  knowledge  of  the  world  at  large  as  Cobden  brought 
when  he  entered  Parliament  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven. 
He  had  not  merely  passed  along  the  ordinary  paths  of 
continental  travel  in  France,  Germany  and  Switzerland, 
but  had  visited  Spain,  Turkey,  Egypt  and  Greece,  and 
had  formed  from  close  contact  with  many  places  and 
many  men  first-hand  views  of  the  determinant  factors  of 
that  Eastern  Question  which  was  destined  to  obtrude 
itself  so  often  and  in  such  impressive  ways  upon  the 
foreign  policy  of  his  time.  The  close  interdependence 
of  economic  and  political  conditions  was  a  persistent 
underlying  object  of  study,  and  vitalized  the  conceptions 
of  international  politics  which  formed  the  matter  of  his 
earliest  political  essays.  His  early  European  travels  were 
reinforced  by  a  tour  in  the  United  States,  then  almost 
a  terra  incognita  to  our  educated  classes,  save  for  the 
casual  caricatures  of  a  few  literary  tourists  like  Dickens 
and  Mrs.  Trollope.  Mere  extent  of  travel  is,  of  course, 
in  itself  no  index  of  an  international  mind.  But  Cob- 
den's  diaries,  selections  from  which  are  printed  in  some 
chapters  of  Lord  Morley's  "  Life,"  show  what  care  he 
took,  not  only  to  gather  and  record  information,  but  to 
digest  it  into  general  judgments.     He  got  on  well  with 

24 


Cobden's  Preparation  for  Politics 

foreigners,  because  they  found  in  him  none  of  the  ill- 
concealed  contempt  or  censorious  superiority  which  galled 
them  in  the  ordinary  British  visitor.  Americans  par- 
ticularly of  that  period  were  properly  resentful  of  what 
Lowell  a  generation  later  termed  "  a  certain  condescension 
in  foreigners,"  and  they  were  especially  sensitive  to  such 
treatment  from  Englishmen.  Cobden  had  sympathy  and 
admiration  for  the  spirit  of  hustle  which  he  found  in 
their  country.  "  Great  as  was  my  previous  esteem  for 
the  qualities  of  this  people,  I  find  myself  in  love  with 
their  intelligence,  their  sincerity,  and  the  decorous  self- 
respect  that  actuates  all  classes.  The  very  genius  of 
activity  seems  to  have  found  its  fit  abode  in  the  souls 
of  this  restless  and  energetic  race.  They  have  not,  'tis 
true,  the  force  of  Englishmen  in  personal  weight  or 
strength,  but  they  have  compensated  for  that  deficiency 
by  quickening  the  momentum  of  their  enterprise." l 
This  was  his  characteristic  attitude  of  mind,  to  pay  chief 
attention  to  the  natural  or  human  qualities,  powers  and 
opportunities,  which  distinguished  the  several  nations  and 
countries  that  he  visited.  For  it  was  these  differences  of 
soil,  situation,  climate,  and  of  the  human  nature  and 
activities  which  they  educated  and  evoked,  that  formed 
the  true  basis  of  that  international  co-operation  which 
he  sought  to  promote.  It  was  this  simple  lesson 
Cobden  never  tired  of  teaching  as  the  essence  of  sound 
international  policy. 

1  Morley's  '«  Life,"  i.  p.  39. 


25 


CHAPTER  II 

COBDEN   AS   PAMPHLETEER 

It  is  important  to  recognize  that  very  early  in  his  public 
life  Cobden  had  grasped  the  full  connection  between  the 
negative  and  the  positive  aspects  of  the  policy  of  non- 
intervention ;  how,  on  the  one  hand,  by  feeding  inter- 
national intercourse  it  brought  increase  of  wealth,  security, 
knowledge  and  goodwill,  while,  on  the  other,  it  cut  out 
the  roots  of  class  monopolies,  political  corruption,  and 
imperialistic  ambition  with  their  attendant  dangers  and 
extravagances  in  home  policy.  His  first  literary  produc- 
tion, the  pamphlet  entitled  "  England,  Ireland,  and 
America,"  published  in  1835  by  "A  Manchester  Manu- 
facturer," is  valuable  evidence  that  this  broad  current 
of  political  thought  upon  the  connections  between  home 
and  foreign  policy  possessed  his  mind  long  before 
he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  specific  agitation  for 
Free  Trade. 

It  was  the  imminent  and  constantly  recurring  peril  of 
a  policy  of  diplomatic  and  forcible  interference  with  the 
conduct  of  other  countries,  partly  in  obedience  to  a  false 
and  dangerous  doctrine  of  Balance  of  Power,  partly  in 
pursuit  of  territorial  aggrandizement,  that  called  forth 
this  early  draft  of  Cobdenism.  The  immediate  object  or 
the  pamphlet  was  to  refute  a  pamphlet  written  by  Mr. 
Urquhart,  formerly  Secretary  of  the  English  Embassy  at 
Constantinople,  containing  an  argued  as  well  as  an  impas- 
sioned appeal  to  our    Government    to  intervene  for  the 

26 


Cobden  as  Pamphleteer 

protection  of  Turkey  against  the  alleged  aggressive 
designs  of  Russia.  This  was  part  of  a  prolonged,  and 
in  the  end  successful,  attempt  to  embroil  this  country  and 
France  with  Russia  as  claimant  to  the  heritage  of  the 
Turk  and  to  the  future  hegemony  of  Asia.  Cobden, 
after  a  scathing  indictment  of  the  misrule  of  the  Sultan, 
driven  home  by  careful  illustrations  of  the  waste  and 
destruction  to  which  many  of  the  most  productive  coun- 
tries of  the  East  were  committed,  asks  what  interest  we 
can  have  to  interfere  for  the  protection  of  the  Turk 
against  a  nation  whose  economic  and  commercial  policy 
is  at  least  far  more  enlightened  than  that  of  the  Sultan, 
and  whose  trade  and  goodwill  are  of  far  greater  value  to 
us.  He  then  grapples  directly  with  the  fallacy  which 
assumes  that  territorial  annexations  are  normal  and 
natural  additions  of  strength  which  would  make  Russia 
a  more  formidable  neighbour.  The  argument  he  uses 
is  as  relevant  to-day  as  then,  and  the  illustrations  as  apt. 
"  Supposing  Russia  or  Austria  to  be  in  possession  of 
the  Turkish  dominions,  would  she  not  find  her  attention 
and  resources  far  too  abundantly  occupied  in  retaining 
the  sovereignty  over  fifteen  millions  of  fierce  and  turbu- 
lent subjects,  animated  with  warlike  hatred  to  their 
conqueror,  and  goaded  into  rebellion  by  the  all-powerful 
impulse  of  a  haughty  and  intolerant  religion,  to  con- 
template adding  still  further  to  her  embarrassments  by 
declaring  war  on  England  and  giving  the  word  of  march 
to  Hindostan  ?  Who  does  not  perceive  that  it  could  not, 
for  ages  at  least,  add  to  the  external  power  of  either  of 
these  States,  if  she  were  to  get  possession  of  Turkey  by 
force  of  arms  ?  Is  Russia  stronger  abroad  by  her  recent 
perfidious  incorporation  of  Poland  ?  Would  Holland 
increase  her  power  if  she  were  to  reconquer  the  Belgian 
provinces  to-morrow  ?  Or,  to  come  to  our  own  door, 
for  example,  was  Great  Britain  more  powerful  whilst,  for 

27 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

centuries,  she  held  Ireland  in  disaffected  subjection  to  her 
rule,  or  was  she  not  rather  weakened  by  offering,  in  the 
sister  island,  a  vulnerable  point  of  attack  to  her  continental 
enemies  ?  " l  He  then  proceeds  to  open  out  the  double- 
headed  folly  of  pursuing  this  dangerous  "  spirited  policy  " 
in  Europe  to  the  neglect  of  the  two  great  tasks  which  should 
rightly  claim  our  immediate  attention — the  pacification  and 
development  of  Ireland  and  the  cultivation  of  sound  com- 
mercial relations  with  the  rising  power  of  the  United' 
States.  On  both  these  matters  he  draws  upon  a  rich  fund 
of  practical  knowledge  and  a  large  imaginative  statecraft. 
The  crippling  of  Irish  trade,  the  imposition  of  a  costly 
alien  Church,  the  servile  land  system,  the  degrading  Poor 
Law,  the  lack  of  capital  for  railway  and  manufacturing 
development,  all  the  vices  of  a  neglected  dependency,  he 
lays  bare  with  unsparing  truth,  ending  with  this  searching 
question  :  "  Does  not  the  question  of  Ireland,  in  every 
point  of  view,  offer  the  strongest  possible  argument  against 
the  national  policy  of  this  country,  for  the  time  during 
which  we  have  wasted  our  energies  and  squandered  our 
wealth  upon  all  the  nations  of  the  Continent,  whilst  a 
part  of  our  own  Empire,  which,  more  than  all  the  rest  of 
Europe,  has  needed  our  attention,  remains  to  this  hour 
an  appalling  monument  of  our  neglect  and  misgovern- 
ment  ?  "2 

The  concluding  section  of  the  pamphlet  is  devoted 
to  an  exposition  of  the  growing  economic  strength  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  importance  of  pursuing  a 
more  enlightened  policy,  alike  in  foreign  and  domestic 
affairs,  if  we  are  to  cope  successfully  with  her  ascendancy. 

Here  Cobden  appeals  to  national  pride  as  well  as  to 
the  pocket.  In  his  desire  to  prove  that  we  had  better 
occupy  our  minds  with  what  is  happening  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  instead  of  meddling  on  the  Continent, 

1   "  Political  Writings,"  i.  p.  20.  2  Ibid.  i.  p.  74. 

28 


Cobden  as  Pamphleteer 

he  commits  himself  to  a  theory  of  trade  rivalry  which  is 
not,  it  will  be  recognized,  in  accord  with  the  fuller  prin- 
ciple of  commercial  internationalism  which  he  developed 
later  on.  Contrasting  the  rapid  development  of  their 
national  resources  and  their  business  policy  in  manufacture 
and  in  transport,  their  attention  to  education,  the  growth 
of  their  press,  with  the  slow  and  reluctant  steps  taken 
in  these  directions  by  our  Government  and  ruling  classes, 
and  dwelling  on  their  lighter  taxation  and  their  immunity 
from  militarism  and  the  crushing  burden  of  war  debts, 
he  appeals  to  the  policy  of  non-intervention  as  the  only 
one  which  will  enable  us  to  hold  our  own  in  the  coming 
commercial  struggle  with  this  new  power  which  sees  its 
greatness  not  in  terms  of  forcible  conquest  and  territorial 
aggression,  but  in  economic  domination.  "  It  is  to  the 
industry,  the  economy,  and  peaceful  policy  of  America 
and  not  to  the  growth  of  Russia,  that  our  statesmen 
and  politicians,  of  whatever  creed,  ought  to  direct  their 
anxious  study  ;  for  it  is  by  these,  and  not  by  the  efforts 
of  barbarian  force,  that  the  power  and  greatness  of 
England  are  in  danger  of  being  superseded  ;  yes,  by 
the  successful  rivalry  of  America,  shall  we,  in  all 
probability,  be  placed  second  in  the  rank  of  nations."  l 
An  even  more  striking  testimony  to  the  breadth, 
independence  and  maturity  of  Cobden's  thought,  before 
he  quitted  business  for  politics,  is  found  in  the  extended 
argument  of  his  pamphlet  on  "  Russia,"  published  in 
1836.  It  was  evoked  by  the  alarm  of  a  Russian  in- 
vasion which  prevailed  that  year,  and  was  made  the 
occasion  of  an  increase  in  our  navy  of  five  thousand 
men  and  of  a  carefully  fomented  demand  for  military 
preparations.  Its  method  of  appeal  is  the  best  illus- 
tration of  the  working  of  Cobden's  mind  in  politics, 
his  insistence  upon  applying  to  the  ideas  and  catchwords 

1   Op.  cit.  p.  78. 
29 


Richard  Cobden  :    The  International  Man 

by  which  interested  politicians  sway  the  popular  mind 
the  test  of  facts  and  the  interpretation  of  common 
sense.  While  he  displays  considerable  subtlety  and 
learning  in  unravelling  and  exposing  the  sophistry  of 
the  statecraft,  the  positive  principles  and  policy  he 
seeks  to  substitute  are  f&w^  simple  and  obvious. 
Though  suggested  by  a  passing  stroke  of  peril  and 
primarily  fitted  to  the  occasion,  it  is  intended  to  areuse 
deeper  and  more  permanent  reflections,  and  stands  as 
his  ablest  and  fullest  formal  exposition  ot  the  foreign 
policy  of  non-intervention. 

The  opening  chapter  directly  challenges  the  Russophobe 
on  the  interest  of  England  in  the  Eastern  Question. 
By  a  comparison  of  the  political  and  economic  institu- 
tions of  Russia  and  Turkey,  Cobden  confutes  the 
arguments  of  those  who  pretend  that  our  commerce, 
our  colonies  and  our  national  existence,  are  imperilled 
by  the  encroachments  of  Russia  upon  the  Turkish 
Empire  in  Europe  or  in  Asia.  After  various  citations 
from  accepted  authorities  to  show  what  Turkish  govern- 
ment has  actually  meant  for  the  countries  which  have 
fallen  under  its  sway,  and  what  are  the  present  conditions 
and  the  prospects  of  Russia  as  a  country  rapidly  emerging 
from  barbarism  and  equipped  with  the  physical  and 
spiritual  potentialities  of  Western  civilization,  he  poses 
in  a  brilliant  passage  the  salient  question  "  Whether  it 
is  really  a  danger  and  a  detriment  to  England  that 
Russia  should  displace  the  Ottoman  Powers?"  He 
refuses  to  decide  whether  Russia  is  herself  justified  in 
undertaking  this  career  of  aggrandizement,  narrowing 
the  issue  to  that  of  British  policy  in  intervention.  The 
consequences  of  Russian  conquest  would,  he  contends, 
be  favourable  to  humanity  and  civilization.  "  Can  any 
one  doubt  that,  if  the  Government  of  St.  Petersburg 
were    transferred    to    the    shores    of    the  Bosphorus,    a 

30 


Cobden  as  Pamphleteer 

splendid  and  substantial  European  city  would,  in  less 
than  twenty  years,  spring  up  in  the  place  of  those  huts 
which  now  constitute  the  capital  of  Turkey  ?  that 
noble  public  buildings  would  arise,  learned  societies 
flourish  and  the  arts  prosper  ?  that,  from  its  natural 
beauties  and  advantages,  Constantinople  would  become 
an  attractive  resort  for  educated  Europeans  ?  that  the 
Christian  religion,  operating  instantly  upon  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  the  country,  would  ameliorate  the  con- 
ditions of  its  people  ?  that  the  slave  market,  which 
is  now  polluting  the  Ottoman  capital  centuries  after  the 
odious  traffic  has  been  banished  from  the  soil  of 
Christian  Europe,  would  be  abolished  ?  that  the 
demoralizing  and  unnatural  laws  of  polygamy,  under 
which  the  fairest  portion  of  the  creation  becomes  an 
object  of  brutal  lust  and  an  article  of  daily  traffic,  would 
be  discontinued  ?  and  that  the  plague,  no  longer 
fostered  by  the  filth  and  indolence  of  the  people,  would 
cease  to  ravage  countries  placed  in  the  healthiest  latitudes 
and  blessed  with  the  finest  climate  in  the  world  ? ' 

"  Would  such  beneficent  changes  be  detrimental  to 
this  country  ?  Although  Russia  is  a  relatively  backward 
country  in  commercial  policy,  it  is  far  more  advanced 
than  Turkey,  and  we  might  reasonably  expect  a  sub- 
stantial development  both  of  the  raw  materials  of  Turkey 
and  of  her  markets  for  foreign  produce.  The  great 
gains  of  such  material  development  Russia  could  not 
keep  to  herselr.  Even  supposing,  however,  that  Russia, 
by  apathy  or  misgovernment,  failed  to  develop  and  civilize 
her  growing  territories,  that  failure  would  bring  no 
menace  to  such  a  country  as  England,  whose  power, 
as  compared  with  that  of  Russia,  would  be  continually 
advancing  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  trade  and  wealth 
are  the  sinews  of  political  and  even  military  power." 
"  If  that  people  were  to  attempt  to  exclude  all  foreign 

31 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

traffic,  they  would  enter  at  once  upon  the  high  road  to 
barbarism,  for  which  career  there  is  no  danger  threatened 
to  rich  and  civilized  nations  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
State  continued  to  pursue  a  system  favourable  to  foreign 
trade,  then  England  will  be  found  at  Constantinople, 
as  she  has  already  been  at  St.  Petersburg,  reaping  the 
greatest  harvest  of  riches  and  power,  from  the  augmen- 
tation of  Russian  imports."  In  the  latter  part  of  this 
chapter  Cobden  deals  with  the  charge  of  aggrandizement 
brought  by  us  against  Russia,  by  bringing  home  the 
humorous  effrontery  of  such  a  charge  made  by  a  nation 
which  "  during  the  last  hundred  years  has,  for  every 
square  league  of  territory  annexed  by  Russia  by  force, 
violence,  or  fraud,  appropriated  to  herself  three."  If 
we  find  our  justification  in  the  claim  to  have  imposed 
order  and  material  improvements  with  some  measure  of 
justice  upon  our  enlarged  empire,  Russia  may  reasonably 
make  a  similar  claim  for  the  provinces  in  Europe  and 
Asia  which  she  has  annexed. 

This  contention  Cobden  presses  home  by  a  compre- 
hensive examination  of  the  case  of  Poland,  to  which  he 
devotes  the  second  chapter  of  his  treatise.  Here  he 
traverses  the  accepted  stories  of  the  wrongs  and  injuries 
inflicted  upon  that  country  by  its  dismemberment.  The 
annals  of  republican  Poland,  for  a  century  prior  to  its 
dismemberment,  were,  he  contends,  a  history  of  anarchy, 
due  to  the  intestine  strife  of  the  despotic  gangs  of  nobles 
who  owned  and  ruled  the  country,  to  the  religious 
discords  which  rent  the  people,  and  to  the  recurrence 
of  plague  and  famine,  the  natural  train  of  incessant 
warfare.  Poland,  as  a  nation,  never  had  its  independ- 
ence, and  so  could  not  lose  it.  Its  dismemberment  "  has 
been  followed  by  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  peace, 
wealth,  liberty,  civilization  and  happiness,  enjoyed  by 
the  great  mass  of  the  people.     Slavery  no  longer  exists 

32 


Cobden  as  Pamphleteer 

in  Poland,  the  peasant  is  for  the  first  time  safe  in  life 
and  limb,  with  liberty  to  plough  his  soil  for  his  own 
advantage.  Roads,  bridges  and  other  improvements 
have  been  introduced  by  Russia,  and  the  Polish  people, 
though  far  from  prosperous,  have  enjoyed  many  benefits 
by  their  change  of  Government."  The  insurrection  or 
1830,  commonly  adduced  to  prove  the  oppression  of 
Russia,  is  assigned  by  Cobden  as  the  result  of  the 
instigation  of  the  Polish  aristocracy  who,  for  their 
own  selfish  benefit,  plunged  their  nation  into  the  horrors 
of  civil  war  by  playing  upon  the  sentiments  of  patriotism 
and  nationality. l 

Having  thus  disposed  ot  the  perils  from  Russia  by  a 
candid  appeal  to  facts,  and  being  unable  "  to  discover  one 
single  ground  upon  which  to  find  a  pretence,  consistent 
with  reason,  common  sense,  or  justice,  for  going  to  war 
with  Russia,"  Cobden  then  embarks  upon  a  broader 
examination  of  the  foundations  of  our  international  policy, 
as  couched  under  the  vague  and  fallacious  phrase  "  Balance 
of  Power."  He  shows,  first,  that  international  jurists  and 
statesmen  have  never  agreed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  term, 
applied  to  any  Union  or  disposition  of  European  Powers, 
and  that  no  state  of  things  corresponding  to  the  meaning 
anywhere  assigned  to  it  has  ever  existed.  He  then  shows 
that  there  is  no  agreed,  or  indeed  possible,  definition  or 
measure  of  the  "  power  "  according  to  which  the  several 
state-claims  shall  be  estimated,  and  finally  that  any  such 
11  balance,"    were    it   established,    would    be    inoperative, 

1  Here  Cobden  gives  naive  expression  to  his  surprise  that  common 
people  should  prefer  a  bad  government  by  members  of  their  own 
race  to  a  better  government  by  foreigners.  "  Patriotism,"  as  he 
remarks,  "  or  nationality,  is  an  instinctive  virtue,  that  sometimes 
burns  the  brightest  in  the  rudest  and  lea3t  reasoning  minds  ;  and 
its  manifestation  bears  no  proportion  to  the  value  of  possessions 
defended,  and  the  object  to  be  gained"  ("Political  Writings,"  i. 
p.  178). 

33  c 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

because  no  provision  could  be  made  against  "  the  peaceful 
aggrandizements  which  spring  from  improvement  and 
labour."  Next,  he  exposes  the  inconsistency  of  invoking 
such  a  theory  in  the  case  of  Russian  encroachment  upon 
Turkey,  as  if  Turkey  were  a  part  of  the  balance,  while 
the  United  States  and  Brazil,  whose  wealth,  position  and 
striking  power  are  far  greater,  were  excluded  from  the 
"  balance."  The  utter  irrationality  of  alarms  based  upon 
balance  of  power  is  thus  exposed.  "  Russia,  in  possession 
of  Constantinople,  say  the  alarmists,  would  possess  a  port 
open  at  all  seasons  ;  the  materials  for  constructing  ships  ; 
vast  tracts  of  fertile  land,  capable  of  producing  cotton, 
silk,  wool,  etc.  ;  and  she  would  be  placed  in  a  situation 
of  easy  access  to  our  shores — all  of  which  would  tend  to 
destroy  the  Balance  of  Power,  and  put  in  danger  the 
interests  of  British  commerce  in  particular.  But  New 
York,  a  port  far  more  commodious  than  Constantinople, 
is  open  at  all  seasons  ;  the  United  States  possess  materials 
without  end  for  shipbuilding  ;  their  boundless  territory 
of  fertile  land  is  adapted  for  the  growth  of  cotton,  silk, 
wool,  etc.,  and  New  York  is  next  door  to  Liverpool ;  for 
— thanks  to  Providence  ! — there  is  no  land  intervening 
between  the  American  continent  and  the  shores  of  this 
United  Kingdom.  Yet  we  have  never  heard  that  the 
North  American  Continent  forms  any  part  of  the  Balance 
of  Power  !  "  * 

To  America  he  appeals  as  the  great  witness  for  his 
gospel  of  non-intervention,  and  for  the  true  interna- 
tionalism which  is  its  natural  consequence,  summarizing 
his  lesson  in  the  pregnant  apothegm  :  "  As  little  intercourse 
as  possible  between  the  Governments  ;  as  much  connection 
as  possible  between  the  nations  of  the  world."  The  final 
chapter  of  his  pamphlet  sets  forth  the  right  conditions  of 
such  international  connection  by  peaceful  and  free  inter- 

1  P.  210. 

1  34 


Cobden  as  Pamphleteer 

change  of  goods  and  services.  To  what  are  we  indebted 
for  the  recent  growth  of  our  commerce  ?  Is  it  to  terri- 
torial aggrandizement  and  the  protection  of  a  powerful 
navy  ?  Not  at  all.  The  costs  and  risks  of  a  colonial 
mercantilism  sustained  by  force  of  arms  have  been  suffi- 
ciently exposed  by  history.  u  Men-of-war  to  conquer 
colonies,  to  yield  us  a  monopoly  of  their  trade,  must  now 
be  dismissed,  like  many  other  equally  glittering  but  false 
adages  of  our  forefathers,  and  in  its  place  we  must  sub- 
stitute the  more  homely  but  enduring  maxim  Cheapness, 
which  will  command  commerce  ;  and  whatever  else  is 
needful  will  follow  in  its  train."  l 

This  reliance  upon  cheapness  and  quality  of  goods,  as 
the  mainstay  of  sound  relations  between  peoples,  means 
that  every  increase  of  trade,  instead  of  requiring  an 
increase  of  warlike  armaments  in  its  defence,  itself  fur- 
nishes an  improved  safeguard  against  the  dangers  of  war. 
So  we  come  to  recognize  the  positive  pacific  virtues  of 
free  commerce.  "  The  standing  armies  and  navies — 
whilst  they  cannot  possibly  protect  our  commerce,  while 
they  add  by  the  increase  of  taxation  to  the  cost  of  our 
manufactures,  and  thus  augment  the  difficulty  of  achieving 
the  victory  of  '  cheapness  ' — tend  to  deter  rather  than 
attract  customers.  The  feeling  is  natural  ;  it  is  under- 
stood in  the  individual  concerns  of  life.  Does  the  shop- 
keeper, when  he  invites  buyers  to  his  counter,  place  there 
as  a  guard  to  protect  his  stock  or  defend  his  salesmen 
from  violence  a  gang  of  stout  fellows  armed  with  pistols 
and  cutlasses  ? "  Liberate  commerce,  cheapen  its  pro- 
duction, extend  its  flow,  you  place  international  relations 
upon  a  safe,  reasonable  and  advantageous  footing,  and 
relieve  nations  from  the  perils  and  wastes  of  those  strifes 
which  come  from  governmental  conduct  dictated  by 
obsolete  and  false  conceptions  of  the  antagonism  of  States. 

1  Op.  cit.  p.  22  i . 

35 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Wanted  a  foreign  policy  in  which  the  common  sense  of 
statesmen  expresses  the  general  interests  of  peoples. 
"  And  how  long  will  it  be  before  the  policy  of  this  manu- 
facturing and  commercial  nation  shall  be  determined  by 
at  least  as  much  calculation  and  regard  for  self-interest  as 
are  necessary  to  the  prosperity  of  a  private  business  ? 
Not  until  such  time  as  Englishmen  apply  the  same  rules 
of  common  sense  to  the  affairs  of  the  State  as  they  do  to 
their  individual  undertakings." 

Thus  we  perceive  that,  before  the  establishment  of  the 
Anti  Corn-Law  League  in  1838,  and  several  years  before 
his  entry  into  Parliament,  Cobden  had  by  travel  and 
reflection  acquired  the  principles  and  policy  of  that  inter- 
nationalism which  throughout  his  long  public  life  directed 
and  dominated  his  conduct.  That  internationalism  had 
two  aspects.  The  first  was  governmental  non-interven- 
tion, applied  alike  to  foreign  and  to  colonial  policy,  "as 
little  intercourse  as  possible  between  Governments."  The 
second  was  the  growth  and  encouragement  of  intimate 
and  friendly  intercourse  between  the  members  of  different 
nations,  international  as  distinguished  from  inter-govern- 
mental relations.  Of  this  international  intercourse  free 
interchange  of  economic  goods  and  services  on  terms  of 
obvious  mutual  advantage  was  the  most  important  channel 
and  the  best  security. 

Although  the  concentration  of  his  efforts  during  the 
period  from  1838  to  1846  upon  the  repeal  campaign 
necessarily  involved  some  neglect  of  the  wider  propa- 
ganda, he  never  lost  sight  of  the  larger  human  meaning 
of  a  policy  which,  in  order  to  become  effectual,  must  first 
be  founded  on  an  appeal  to  national  expediency.  In 
particular,  the  organic  connection  between  the  Free  Trade 
and  the  Peace  Movements  was  firmly  established  in  his 
mind  in   1842,  when  he  proposed  to  Mr.  Ashworth  the 

36 


Cobden  as   Pamphleteer 

offering  of  a  Prize  Essay  on  "  Free  Trade  as  the  Best 
Human  Means  for  securing  Universal  and  Permanent 
Peace,"  adding  that  "  It  has  often  struck  me  that  it  would 
be  well  to  try  to  engraft  our  Free  Trade  agitation  upon 
the  Peace  movement.  They  are  one  and  the  same  cause. 
It  has  often  been  to  me  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the 
Friends  have  not  taken  up  the  question  of  Free  Trade  as 
the  means — and  I  believe  the  only  human  means — of 
effecting  universal  and  permanent  peace.  The  efforts  of 
the  Peace  Societies,  however  laudable,  can  never  be  suc- 
cessful so  long  as  the  nations  maintain  their  present  system 
of  isolation."  1 

Though  the  main  stress  of  the  Anti  Corn-Law  argument 
both  in  Parliament  and  in  the  country  was  upon  the  urgency 
of  repeal  as  a  remedy  for  the  poverty  and  insecurity  of 
livelihood  in  which  the  general  mass  of  the  labouring 
population  were  living,  while  at  the  same  time  securing 
full  employment  and  profitable  trade  for  the  capital  and 
labour  engaged  in  our  manufactures,  the  orators  of  the 
League  seldom  failed  to  rally  the  intelligence  and  moral 
sense  of  their  audience  to  the  broader  issues  of  peace, 
disarmament  and  amity  of  nations.  Bright,  Cobden  and 
Fox  never  ignored  the  value  of  these  larger  and  less  dis- 
tinctively material  considerations  to  the  success  of  their 
immediate  cause.  It  was  not  merely  an  appeal  to  the 
stomach  of  the  workers  and  the  bank  account  of  the 
manufacturers.  Beneath  this  material  economic  struggle 
lay  a  clear  sense  of  "  the  international."  As  Bright  said 
in  his  great  oration  at  Covent  Garden  Theatre  in  Sep- 
tember 1843  :  "They  wanted  to  have  the  question  settled 
tor  the  world  as  well  as  for  England.  They  were  tired 
of  what  was  called  the  natural  divisions  of  empires.  They 
wanted  not  that  the  Channel  should  separate  this  country 
from  France — they  hoped  and  wished  that  Frenchmen 
1  Quoted  in  Morley's  "Life,"  i.  p.  230. 

37 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

and  Englishmen  should  no  longer  consider  each  other  as 
naturally  hostile  nations."  1 

The  peroration  of  Cobden's  speech  at  the  same  gather- 
ing gives  a  definition  of  Free  Trade  which  shows  that 
in  his  mind  the  larger  vision  never  suffered  an  eclipse. 
11  Free  Trade — what  is  it  ?  Why,  breaking  down  the 
barriers  that  separate  nations  ;  those  barriers  behind 
which  nestle  the  feelings  of  pride,  revenge,  hatred  and 
jealousy,  which  every  now  and  then  break  their  bonds 
and  deluge  whole  countries  with  blood  ;  those  feelings 
which  nourish  the  poison  of  war  and  conquest,  which 
assert  that  without  conquest  we  can  have  no  trade,  which 
foster  that  lust  for  conquest  and  dominion  which  send 
forth  your  warrior  chiefs  to  sanction  devastation  through 
other  lands,  and  then  calls  them  back  that  they  may  be 
enthroned  securely  in  your  passions,  but  only  to  harass 
and  oppress  you  at  home."  2 

This  large  spirit  breathed  through  all  his  utterances 
in  this  great  and  triumphant  campaign.  Cobden  never 
confined  it  to  the  single  expression,  liberty  of  commerce. 
He  saw  in  it  the  spirit  of  human  solidarity  asserting 
itself  above  and  beyond  the  limits  of  national  patriotism. 
The  destruction  of  the  protectionist  system  of  this  country 
was  but  the  liberation  of  the  spiritual  forces  of  humanity 
pervading  men  of  diverse  lands,  races,  colours,  creeds  and 
languages,  scattered  over  the  earth.  In  the  peroration 
of  his  speech  at  the  final  meeting  of  the  League  Council 
(July  2,  1846),  when,  its  work  done,  the  dissolution  of 
the  League  was  decided,  Cobden  spoke  the  following 
words  : 

"It  is  in  our  moral  nature  necessary  that  when  an 
organized  body  has  fulfilled  its  functions  it  must  pass 
into  a  new  state  of  existence  and  become  differently 
organized.     We  are  dispersing  our  elements  to  be  ready 

1  "Cobden  and  the  League,"  p.  167.  3  "  Speeches,"  p.  40. 

38 


Cobden  as  Pamphleteer 

for  any  other  good  work,  and  it  is  nothing  but  good 
works  which  will  be  attempted  by  good  leaguers.  Our 
body  will,  so  to  speak,  perish,  but  our  spirit  is  abroad 
and  will  pervade  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  It  will 
pervade  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  because  it  is  the 
spirit  of  truth  and  justice  and  because  it  is  the  spirit  of 
peace  and  goodwill  among  men." 


39 


CHAPTER   III 
THE   TOUR   IN   EUROPE,  1846-7 

But  though  the  fuller  gospel  of  economic  and  political 
internationalism  underlay  the  Anti  Corn-Law  propa- 
ganda, tactical  considerations  hampered  its  free  expression 
even  in  this  country.  The  notion  or  feeling  that  the 
trading  interests  of  other  nations  are  opposed  to  our  own 
cannot  easily  be  rooted  out  of  the  political  economy  of 
the  average  sensual  man,  and,  if  the  repeal  movement 
had  had  to  wait  for  this  conversion,  its  success  would 
have  been  slow  and  precarious.  Free  Trade  must  be 
hammered  in  as  a  plain  national  advantage  long  before 
the  full  policy  of  mutuality  upon  which  it  rests  is 
consciously  grasped  by  most  minds.  Therefore  it  was 
that  Cobden  plainly  recognized  that  the  triumph  of  the 
League  in  18.16,  though  sounding  the  death-knell  of 
food  taxation,  was  no  final  security. for  the  wider  policy. 
As  it  had  been  expedient  to  dwell  mainly  upon  the 
national  gain  accompanying  Free  Trade  for  this  country, 
so  it  became  important  to  disabuse  the  mind  of  other 
nations  of  the  view  that  Free  Trade  was  an  exclusively 
British  interest.  The  League  during  their  propaganda 
expressly  refrained  from  appealing  to  any  foreign  senti- 
ment in  favour  of  the  cause.  For  they  rightly  judged 
that  such  appeals  were  certain  to  be  misrepresented  by 
the  interests  which  stood  behind  protective  tariffs  and 
would  play  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies.  Cobden, 
some  years  later,  reviewing  the  League  policy  puts  this 

40 


The  Tour  in  Europe,    1846-7 

very  clearly.  "  We  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  less 
we  attempted  to  persuade  foreigners  to  adopt  our  trade 
principles,  the  better  ;  for  we  discovered  so  much  sus- 
picion of  the  motives  of  England,  that  it  was  lending  an 
argument  to  the  protectionists  abroad  to  incite  the 
popular  feeling  against  the  free-traders,  by  enabling  them 
to  say,  '  See  what  these  men  are  wanting  to  do  ;  they  are 
partisans  of  England  and  they  are  seeking  to  prostitute 
our  industries  at  the  feet  of  that  perfidious  nation.  .  .  .' 
To  take  away  this  pretence,  we  avowed  our  total  indiffer- 
ence whether  other  nations  became  free-traders  or  not  ; 
but  we  should  abolish  Protection  for  our  own  selves,  and 
leave  other  countries  to  take  whatever  course  they  liked 
best."  '  Even  Bastiat's  early  approaches  with  a  view 
to  a  popular  agitation  in  France  were  felt  at  first  to  be 
somewhat  embarrassing.  It  was  not  until  the  overthrow 
of  the  Corn  Law  was  actually  achieved  that  Cobden  felt 
free  to  engage  upon  any  direct  attempt  to  fortify  the  Free 
Trade  policy  of  this  country  by  foreign  support.  He 
recognized  that,  though  the  downfall  of  protective 
tariffs  had  to  be  the  work  of  national  agitation  and  state- 
craft within  each  country,  it  was  possible  to  make  the 
example  of  Great  Britain  an  example  and  encouragement 
to  the  national  reformers  in  foreign  countries.  Cobden 
believed  in  the  force  of  this  example,  holding  that  he 
could  succeed  "  in  making  now  a  stronger  case  for  the 
prohibition  nations  of  Europe  to  compel  them  to  adopt 
a  freer  system,  than  I  had  here  to  overturn  our  protective 
policy."  2 

It  was  the  growing  urgency  of  this  need  which  induced 
him  to  plan  his  comprehensive  tour  through  Europe  in 
1846.     "  I  will,"  he  writes,  "  be  an  ambassador  from  the 

1   Cobden     to     Mr.    Van     der     Maeren,     1856     (quoted,     Morley, 
i.  p.   310). 

3  Letter  to  Mr.  Paulton,  July  4,  1846  (quoted,  Morley,  i.  p.  408). 

41 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

free-traders  of  England  to  the  Governments  of  the  great 
nations  of  the  Continent."  I  No  man  was  better  qualified 
for  such  a  role.  The  fame  of  his  achievement  preceded 
him.  He  had  wrought  a  really  revolutionary  transforma- 
tion of  the  business  policy  of  the  greatest  commercial 
country  in  the  world.  Though  primarily  addressed  to 
the  national  needs  and  interests  of  his  own  people,  the 
policy  carried  with  it  manifest  advantages  to  the  pro- 
ducers and  commercial  classes  of  other  countries.  The 
adoption  by  other  Governments  and  peoples  of  the  same 
policy  of  the  open  door  would  multiply  these  benefits. 
The  enthusiasm  for  what  was  at  once  a  great  economic 
discovery  and  a  moral  ideal  spread  among  the  liberal 
thinkers  and  the  enlightened  business  men  in  every  Euro- 
pean country.  For  though  most  continental  Governments 
were  committed  to  Protection,  partly  by  traditional  mer- 
cantile doctrine,  partly  by  fiscal  needs,  neither  of  these 
supports  was  unassailable.  If  it  could  be  shown  that  the 
opening  of  ports  to  the  free  current  of  international  com- 
merce would  at  once  stimulate  the  national  powers  of 
production,  raise  up  new  profitable  manufactures  and 
furnish  them  with  great  and  growing  foreign  markets, 
antiquated  notions  of  colonization  and  of  taxation  might 
easily  be  swept  away  in  a  general  era  of  prosperity. 
Manufacturers  in  one  country  had  not  begun  seriously 
to  realize  the  perils  of  invasion  in  their  "  home  "  markets 
by  the  manufacturers  of  another  nation,  and  so  the  pros- 
pect of  free  markets  abroad  filled  them  with  enthusiasm. 
Nor  had  the  Free  Trade  propaganda  upon  the  Continent 
to  meet  the  uncompromising  active  opposition  of  the 
agricultural  interests.  For  every  large  continental 
country  was  virtually  self-sufficing  in  the  supplies  of 
essential  foods.  While  this  fact  weakened  the  pressure 
of  the  popular  appeal  for  the  cheap  loaf  which  had 
1  Letter  to  Mr.  Schwabe,  "  Reminiscences,"  p.  2. 

42 


The  Tour  in  Europe,    1846-7 

underlain  the  agitation  in  Great  Britain,  it  averted  the 
opposition  of  the  landowners  to  the  manufacturers  and 
merchants  who  were  favourably  inclined  to  the  new  Free 
Trade  doctrine,  and  to  the  internationalism  which  it 
carried. 

He  was  well  aware  of  the  risk  of  misunderstanding 
in  France,  should  he,  a  foreigner,  above  all  an  English- 
man, appear  as  the  instigator  of  a  change  of  fiscal 
policy.  The  following  letter,  written  in  September  1846, 
to  his  French  friend  M.  Aries  Dufour,1  is  a  sufficient 
commentary   upon  the  tactics  of  French  agitation. 

"  Pau,  September*),  1846. 
"  Before  I  left  Bordeaux  for  this  beautiful  spot,  I  sent 
you  a  paper  containing  a  report  of  our  public  dinner 
which  I  hope  you  received.  Now  let  me  offer  a  word 
or  two  for  your  own  private  ear.  I  must  not  be  seen  in 
public,  in  France,  interfering  with  your  politics,  or  stimu- 
lating Frenchmen  to  agitate  for  Free  Trade,  but  I  dare 
talk  to  you  without  reserve.  Your  commercial  legislation 
is  a  disgrace  to  you.  I  had  not  the  least  idea,  until  I 
looked  over  your  tariff  with  M.  Anisson-Duperon  in 
Paris,  that  you  were  so  lamentably  behind  other  coun- 
tries. Your  tariff  is  far  more  illiberal  now  than  ours  in 
England  was  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  before  Huskis- 
son  began  his  reforms.  You  have  upwards  of  sixty 
articles  of  importance  actually  prohibited  ;  many  others 
on  which  the  high  duties  are  equal  to  a  prohibition,  and 
most  of  the  raw  materials  required  for  your  industry  are 
absurdly  taxed  !  With  the  exception  of  Spain,  I  do  not 
know  another  country  (unless  it  be  Austria)  where  the 
commercial  legislation  is  so  barbarous  and  benighted  as 
in  France.  If  I  were  a  Frenchman,  and  a  merchant  or 
manufacturer,  my  face  would  redden  with  shame  at  the 

1  A  wealthy  silk  manufacturer  of  Lyons  and  an  ardent  Free  Trader. 

43 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

spectacle.  You  are  far  behind  Germany,  Italy  and  even 
Russia.  Well,  what  must  be  done  ?  Why,  help  your- 
selves and  God  will  help  you.  You  must  agitate.  The 
Government  can  do  nothing  unless  aided  by  the  Press 
and  the  public.  The  Press  is  busy  about  the  marriage 
of  a  poor  little  girl  in  Spain,  or  Mr.  Pritchard  in 
Tahity,  or  anything  else  that  is  sufficiently  foolish  and 
contemptible  to  amuse  the  coteries  of  Paris.  As  for  the 
public,  its  voice  is  never  heard  in  France  unless  it  be  in 
the  street  for  '  three  days '  behind  barricades,  and  this 
is  after  all  a  very  clumsy  way  of  settling  questions  of 
political  economy.  The  Government  is  ready  to  march 
forward  if  supported  by  the  people.  You  must  aid  it. 
There  are  three  great  staple  interests  in  France  that 
ought  to  unite  against  the  Protectionists — I  mean  the 
wine-growers,  the  silk  manufacturers,  and  the  Parisian 
industry.  It  seems  to  me  as  if  your  legislation  was 
framed  for  the  purpose  of  depressing  these  great  natural 
branches  of  your  trade  to  prop  up  some  others  which 
have  not  strength  to  stand  without  crutches,  and  yet 
these  latter  have  the  impudence  to  call  themselves  par 
excellence  the  National   industry  ! 

"  Lyons  ought  to  take  the  lead  in  this  crusade  against 
monopoly  and  selfishness,  and  you  ought  to  marshal  its 
forces.  Now,  my  dear  friend,  set  about  the  good  work 
with  all  your  native  vigour — you  have  no  time  to  lose. 
If  you  leave  England  to  get  a  few  years'  start  of  you  in 
Free  Trade,  your  children — the  next  generation  of  Lyons 
— will  have  reason  to  curse  the  apathy  and  want  of  public 
spirit  of  their  fathers.  France  must  go  back  in  the  scale 
of  nations  unless  she  advances  in  the  path  of  reform  and 
improvement.  You  can  no  more  continue  in  the  old 
system  of  restriction,  while  England  throws  open  her  ports 
to  all  the  world,  than  you  could  go  on  with  diligence 
and  roads,  and  let  England  possess  the  exclusive  advan- 

44 


ARLES  DUFOUR. 


[To  face  p.  44. 


The  Tour  in  Europe,    1846-7 

tages  of  locomotives  and  railways.  Do  you  agree  with 
me  in  all  this?  Then  I  throw  my  mantle  of  an  agitator 
over  your  shoulders,  and  bid  you  to  commence  the  good 
work.  Do  not  mix  up  any  other  question  with  it.  Urge 
boldly  forward  the  principle  of  Free  Trade — denounce 
the  very  idea  of  Protection.  It  is  a  fraud  and  a  swindle , 
and  you  must  not  compromise  with  it  a  moment. 
Make  arrangements  for  a  public  meeting  and  let  your 
voices  be  heard  protesting  against  the  principle  of  levying 
a  tax  to  provide  a  'civil  list'  for  certain  privileged 
classes.  Tell  them  '  we  are  willing  to  be  taxed  for  the 
public  revenue — take  all  we  possess  if  it  is  necessary  for 
the  good  of  the  State — burn  our  houses  over  our  heads 
if  that  be  required  for  the  interests  of  France.  But  not 
one  sou  will  we  pay  for  the  benefit  of  particular  men,  or 
classes  of  men.'  That  is  the  tone  to  take  to  rouse  public 
feeling  and  sympathy.  Take  no  lower  tone.  Follow  it 
up  with  energetic  action,  and  you  will  succeed,  as  surely 
as  we  succeeded  in  England,  against  ten  times  the  power 
which  is  arrayed  against  you  in  France.  There  !  I  told 
you  I  dared  to  speak  plainly  to  you,  and  have  not  I  done 
it  ?  Yes  ;  because  I  think  I  know  you,  and  believe  you 
know  me,  and  that  we  shall  not  misunderstand  each 
other.  My  wife  and  I  are  taking  our  ease  amongst  the 
lovely  scenery  of  the  Pyrenees.  We  shall  remain  in  this 
neighbourhood  for  a  short  time,  and  then  go  to  Italy  for 
the  winter.  If  you  should  find  time  to  write  me  a  few 
lines  soon,  after  the  receipt  of  this,  it  will  find  me  poste 
restante  at  Pau.     My  wife  joins  me  in  remembrance  to  you. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  sir, 

"  Faithfully  yours, 

"RICHARD   COBDEN." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Cobden   in  his  tour  through 
Spain,   Italy,  Germany  and   Russia,  during  the  fourteen 

45 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

months  from  August  1846  to  October  1847,  met  with 
great  attention  wherever  he  went.  The  story  of  his 
triumphant  progress  is  told  by  himself  in  his  diary,  in 
letters  to  his  wife,  and  in  the  volume  of  "  Reminis- 
cences "  published  in  1895  ^y  Mrs.  Salis  Schwabe,1  who, 
with  her  husband,  had  accompanied  Cobden  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  tour  and  kept  a  careful  account  of 
his  doings  and  of  the  public  interest  he  aroused.  The 
story  is  the  more  remarkable  inasmuch  as  no  plan  of 
propaganda  and  no  preconcerted  arrangements  were  made 
by  Cobden  for  his  tour. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cobden  did  not  spend  much  time  in 
France  but  pushed  on  to  the  Pyrenees  frontier,  where 
they  were  joined  by  their  travelling  companions  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Schwabe.  "  Mr.  Cobden,"  the  latter  notes, 
u  is  much  courted  here  in  France,  strangers  of  the  first 
rank  call  on  him  and  Mrs.  Cobden  and  invite  them. 
To-day  the  local  paper  (Pau)  contained  a  poetic  pane- 
gyric on  Mr.  Cobden."  2  Declining  formal  gatherings 
at  Pau  and  Bayonne,  Cobden  pushed  on  to  Spain,  where 
he  spent  some  eleven  weeks  in  sightseeing,  in  conversa- 
tions with  political  and  business  men  and  in  rousing  an 
intelligent  appreciation  of  commercial  internationalism 
in  an  inert  and  backward  people.  It  is,  however,  note- 
worthy that  Cobden's  fame  had  so  far  preceded  him  that 
in  Madrid,  Seville,  Cadiz  and  Malaga,  Free  Trade 
banquets  were  improvised  in  his  honour.  It  could  hardly 
be  said  that  there  was  a  Free  Trade  movement  in  Spain. 
But  the  repeal  of  British  import  duties  on  foods  and  raw 
materials  had  naturally  appealed  strongly  to  the  interests 
of  a  nation  largely  exporting  these  supplies  and  possessing 
few  powerful  organized  manufactures.  Cobden,  how- 
ever, never  played  upon  the  note  of  selfish  interest  alone. 

1  "Reminiscences  of  Richard  Cobden"  (Fisher  Unwin),  compiled 
by  Mrs.  Salis  Schwabe.  2  "  Reminiscences,"  p.  5. 

46 


The  Tour  in   Europe,    1846-7 

He  always  founded  his  appeal  upon  the  broader  base 
of  international  solidarity.  Like  every  skilled  preacher, 
he  sought  at  once  to  touch  the  emotions  of  his  audience 
and  convince  their  understanding  by  presenting  a  clear 
image  of  an  ideal.  The  following  passage  from  his 
speech  at  the  Free  Trade  banquet  at  Madrid  well  illus- 
trates this  practice. 

"  I  know  that  there  are  individuals  to  be  found  in 
every  country  who  say,  '  We  will  produce  everything  we 
require  within  our  own  boundaries  ;  we  will  be  inde- 
pendent of  foreigners.'  If  Nature  had  intended  that 
there  should  be  such  a  national  isolation,  she  would  have 
formed  the  earth  upon  a  very  different  plan,  and  given 
to  each  country  every  advantage  of  soil  and  climate. 
My  country,  for  example,  would  have  possessed  the 
wines,  oils,  fruits  and  silks,  which  have  been  denied  to 
it,  and  other  countries  would  have  been  endowed  with 
the  abundance  of  coal  and  iron  with  which  we  are  com- 
pensated for  the  want  of  a  warmer  soil.  No,  Providence 
has  wisely  given  to  each  latitude  its  peculiar  products, 
in  order  that  different  nations  may  supply  each  other 
with  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  life,  and  that  thus 
they  may  be  united  together  in  the  bonds  of  peace  and 
brotherhood.  Gentlemen,  I  doubt  not  that  ere  long  the 
public  opinion  of  this  great  nation  may  emancipate  its 
commerce  from  those  restrictions  which  recently  fettered 
the  industry  of  my  country.  I  remember  that  more  than 
three  centuries  ago  a  great  man  sailed  from  your  shores 
to  discover  a  new  hemisphere.  Let  me  not  be  accused 
of  underrating  the  glory  of  that  great  achievement  if  I 
say,  that  the  statesman  who  gives  to  Spain  the  blessings 
of  commercial  freedom  will,  in  my  opinion,  confer  greater 
and  more  durable  advantages  upon  his  country  than  it 
derived  from  the  discovery  of  America.  The  genius 
of  Columbus   gave    to   your    ancestors    an   uncultivated 

47 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

continent,  thinly  peopled  by  a  barbarous  race,  but  Free 
Trade  will  throw  open  a  civilized  world  to  your  enter- 
prise, and  every  nation  will  hasten  to  bring  you  the 
varied  products  of  their  ingenuity  and  industry  to  be 
offered  in  exchange  for  the  superabundant  produce  of 
your  favoured   and  beautiful  country." 

From  Spain,  Cobden  passed  to  Italy,  a  country  where 
the  new  industries  were  already  more  firmly  rooted  than 
in  Spain,  and  where  the  principal  Northern  cities  were 
already  touched  with  the  Free  Trade  spirit.  In  Genoa, 
Rome,  Florence,  Turin  and  Venice,  public  banquets 
with  speeches  were  given,  and  were  attended  by 
influential  men  both  of  the  nobility  and  the  business 
classes.  Nor  less  important  were  the  many  private  inter- 
views with  personages  of  political  and  official  impor- 
tance. In  Rome,  Cobden  was  received  by  the  Pope,  who 
"avowed  himself  a  partisan  of  my  views,  and  said  all 
that  lay  within  his  power,  and  adding  modestly  that  it 
was  but  little,  he  would  do  to  promote  Free  Trade  prin- 
ciples." l  It  is  characteristic  of  Cobden's  courage  that 
he  should  have  seized  the  opportunity  to  represent  to 
His  Holiness  the  disgust  he  had  experienced  in  Spain 
with  the  degrading  spectacle  of  the  bull-fights  held  "  in 
honour  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Saints  on  their  fete 
days,"  and  that  he  should  have  urged  the  Pope  to 
bring  pressure  on  the  clergy  to  discountenance  such 
abominations. 

In  his  address  at  Florence  Cobden  naturally  adopted 
a  gratulatory  tone.  For  Tuscany  alone  of  all  the 
countries  in  Southern  Europe  had  put  in  practice  the 
Free  Trade  faith.  u  To  Tuscany  is  undoubtedly  due 
the  glory  of  having  preceded  by  half  a  century  the  rest 
of  the  world  in  the  application  of  the  theories  of  com- 
mercial science  to  its  legislation."  Then  after  a  eulogium 
1  Letter  to  Mrs.  Schwabe,  "  Reminiscences,"  p.  57. 

48 


The  Tour  in   Europe,    1846-7 

upon  the  founder  of  that  policy,  he  proceeds  to  pass  this 
striking  commentary  upon  its  results. 

"  During  the  last  eight  months  I  have  been  travelling 
in  nearly  all  the  countries  of  Southern  Europe,  and  I  am 
bound  to  state,  without  wishing  to  disparage  other 
nations,  that  I  find  the  conditions  of  the  people  of 
Tuscany  superior  to  that  of  any  people  I  have  visited. 
The  surface  of  the  country  resembles  that  of  a  well-culti- 
vated garden  ;  the  people  are  everywhere  well  dressed  ; 
I  have  seen  no  beggars,  except  a  few  lame  or  blind  ; 
and  in  this  season  of  general  scarcity  there  is  less  of 
suffering  from  want  of  food  here,  with  a  perfect  freedom 
of  export  and  import  of  corn,  than  in  probably  any  other 
country  in  Europe."  l 

At  Naples  he  saw  the  King  and  "conversed  for  a  short 
time  with  him  on  Free  Trade,  about  which  he  did  not 
appear  to  be  altogether  ignorant  or  without  some  favour- 
able sympathies.  He  questioned  me  about  the  future 
status  of  the  Irish  difficulty,  a  question  which  seemed  to 
be  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all  statesmen  and  public 
men  on  the  Continent" — this  in  1847,  tne  famine  year. 

In  May  1847  Cobden  had  an  interview  with  King 
Charles  Albert,  "  a  very  tall  and  dignified  figure,  with 
a  sombre,  but  not  unamiable  expression  of  countenance  ; 
received  me  frankly  ;  talked  of  railroads,  machinery, 
agriculture  and  other  practical  questions.  Said  he  hoped 
I  was  contented  with  what  his  Government  had  done  in 
the  application  of  my  principles,  and  informed  me  that 
his  Ministry  had  resolved  upon  a  further  reduction  of 
duties  upon  iron,  cotton,  etc."  "In  the  evening  Count 
Revel,  Minister  of  Finance,  came  in,  with  whom  I 
had  a  long  discussion  upon  Free  Trade  ;  a  sensible  man. 
Speaking  to  Signor  Cibrario  upon  the  subject  of  the 
commerce  of  the  Middle  Ages  in   Italy,  he  said  that  the 

1   Schwabe,  64. 

49  d 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

principle  of  Protection,  or  Colbertism,  was  unknown  ; 
that,  however,  there  were  innumerable  impediments  to 
industry  and  internal  commerce,  owing  to  the  corpora- 
tions of  trades  and  the  custom-houses,  which  surrounded 
every  little  State  and  almost  every  little  city."  J 

As  Cobden  passed  from  Italy  into  Austrian  territory 
the  political  atmosphere,  of  course,  was  chillier.  In 
Vienna  no  public  demonstration  of  free-traders  was  held, 
and  the  most  interesting  occurrence  was  some  personal 
intercourse  with  Prince  Metternich,  whose  conversation 
was  found  to  be  "  more  subtle  than  profound."  "  He  is 
probably  the  last  of  those  State  physicians  who,  looking 
only  to  the  symptoms  of  a  nation,  content  themselves 
with  superficial  remedies  from  day  to  day,  and  never 
attempt  to  probe  beneath  the  surface  to  discover  the 
source  of  the  evils  which  afflict  the  social  system.  This 
order  of  statesmen  will  pass  away  with  him,  because  too 
much  light  has  been  shed  upon  the  laboratory  of  Govern- 
ments, to  allow  them  to  impose  upon  mankind  with  the 
old  formulas."  2  In  Milan,  however,  then  under  Austrian 
rule,  and  in  Trieste,  friends  of  Free  Trade  were  permitted 
to  give  Cobden  banquets  which  were  numerously  attended. 

In  a  rapid  tour  through  Germany  he  had  two  inter- 
views with  the  King  of  Prussia,  dining  with  him  at  Sans 
Souci,  and  met  several  of  the  high  officials  and  other 
persons  of  eminence,  among  them  Baron  von  Humboldt. 
Though  the  political  atmosphere  was  cooler  than  in  Italy 
or  Spain — for  the  German  manufacturers  were  beginning 
to  press  for  higher  protective  tariffs — Cobden  received  a 
good  deal  of  attention,  not  only  in  Berlin  but  in  Hamburg, 
Stettin  and  Danzig,  where  dinners  were  improvised  in 
his  honour.  The  following  is  his  account  of  the  Berlin 
meeting  :  "In  the  evening  attended  a  public  dinner  given 
to  me  by  about  180  free-traders  of  Berlin,  the  mayor  of 

1  Diary,  quoted  "Life,"  i.  pp.  436-7.  2  Ibid.  i.  p.  448. 

50 


The  Tour  in   Europe,    1846-7 

the  city  in  the  chair  ;  he  commenced  the  speaking  at  the 
second  course,  and  it  was  kept  up  throughout  the  dinner, 
which  was  prolonged  for  nearly  three  hours.  Two-thirds 
of  the  meeting  appeared  to  understand  my  English  speech, 
which  was  afterwards  translated  into  German  by  Dr.  Ashe. 
The  speeches  were  rather  long  and  the  auditory  phlegmatic 
when  compared  with  an  Italian  dinner-party.  Mr.  Warren, 
the  United  States  Consul  at  Trieste,  made  the  best  speech, 
in  German.  Alluding  to  my  tour  in  France,  Spain,  Italy 
and  Germany,  he  said  that  no  English  politician  of  former 
times,  no  Chatham,  Burke  or  Fox,  could  have  obtained 
those  proofs  of  public  sympathy  in  foreign  countries  which 
had  been  offered  to  me  ;  in  their  days  the  politics  of  one 
State  were  considered  hostile  to  others  ;  not  only  each 
nation  was  opposed  to  its  neighbour,  but  city  against  city, 
town  against  country,  class  was  arrayed  against  class,  and 
corporations  were  in  hostility  to  individual  rights  :  he 
adduced  the  fact  of  my  favourable  reception  in  foreign 
countries  as  a  proof  of  the  existence  of  a  broader  and 
more  generous  view  of  the  interests  of  mankind."  r 

Not  the  least  interesting  part  of  Cobden's  tour  was  the 
stretch  of  six  weeks  from  mid-August  to  the  close  cf 
September  spent  in  Russia,  chiefly  in  St.  Petersburg, 
Moscow  and  Nijni  Novgorod.  Here  again  he  met  the 
chief  financial  and  commercial  authorities,  official  and 
other,  and  discovered  the  beginnings  of  foreign  business 
penetration  in  the  shape  of  English  mill  managers  and 
German  officials.  He  collected  much  economic  informa- 
tion and  some  valuable  judgments  upon  Russian  conditions 
which  he  put  to  good  use  in  later  years.  Here  is  an 
interesting  generalization  which  sheds  much  light  upon 
the  place  of  Russia  in  the  economy  of  Europe. 

11  Baron  Alexander  MeyendorfF  called,  chief  of  a  kind 
of  Board   of  Trade  of  Moscow,   an    active-minded   and 

1   Diary,  quoted  "Life/'  i.  p.  448^ 
51 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

intelligent  German,  possessing  much  statistical  knowledge 
about  Russian  trade  and  manufactures.  .  .  .  He  thinks 
the  geographical  and  climatical  features  of  Russia  will 
always  prevent  it  being  anything  but  a  great  village,  as 
he  termed  it,  it  being  a  vast,  unbroken  plain  ;  there  are 
no  varieties  of  climate  or  occupation,  and,  as  the  weather 
is  intensely  cold  for  half  the  year,  every  person  wants 
double  the  quantity  of  land  which  would  suffice  to  main- 
tain him  in  more  genial  climates  ;  as  there  is  no  coal,  the 
pine  forests  are  as  necessary  as  his  rye  fields.  Wherever 
the  winter  endures  for  upwards  of  half  the  year,  the 
population  must  as  a  general  rule  be  thin."  l 

Cobden  returned  to  England  on  October  n,  1847, 
having  performed  a  work  of  a  twofold  educational  value, 
expounding  among  influential  men  in  many  European 
countries  the  gospel  of  Free  Trade  and  Internationalism, 
while  at  the  same  time  filling  and  fortifying  his  own  mind 
with  a  large  stock  of  first-hand  knowledge  and  impres- 
sions on  which  to  draw  for  his  great  task  of  teaching  a 
sane  foreign  policy  to  his  own  countrymen.  Hardly  any 
other  English  statesman  has  taken  so  much  trouble  to 
equip  himself  for  the  wider  art  of  statecraft.  Cobden 
knew  ten  times  as  much  about  Europe  as  did  his  great 
antagonist  Lord  Palmerston,  and  was  fully  justified  in 
claiming  the  authority  to  which  such  industry  entitled 
him.  There  is  no  note  of  arrogance  in  the  claim  he  made 
in  a  letter  addressed  three  years  later  2  to  his  West  Riding 
constituents  :  "  Without  egotism,  I  may  perhaps  say  that 
few  Englishmen  have  had  better  opportunities  of  learning 
the  effect  of  our  foreign  policy  upon  other  countries  than 
myself.  I  travelled  throughout  Europe  under  the  rare 
circumstances  of  having  free  access,  at  the  same  time,  to 
the  Courts  and  Ministers  and  to  the  popular  leaders  of 
the  continental  States.  I  came  back  convinced  that  the 
1  Diary,  quoted  "Life,"  i.  p.  454.  2  July  17,  1850. 

52 


The  Tour  in  Europe,    184.6-7 

interference  of  our  Foreign  Office  in  the  domestic  affairs 
of  other  countries  worked  injuriously  for  the  interests  of 
those  towards  whom  all  my  sympathies  were  attracted — 
I  mean  the  people — by  exciting  exaggerated  hopes,  en- 
couraging premature  efforts  and  teaching  reliance  upon 
extraneous  aid,  when  they  ought  to  be  impressed  with 
the  necessity  of  self-dependence.  I  found,  too,  that  the 
principle  of  intervention,  which  we  sanctioned  by  our 
example,  was  carried  by  other  Governments  in  opposition 
to  ours  without  scruple,  and  with  at  least  equal  success  to 
ourselves."  ! 

1  Schwabe,  p.  113. 


53 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    POLICY    OF    NON-INTERVENTION,   1850-2 

Co bd en's  return  to  England  from  his  continental  mission 
closely  coincided  with  the  advent  of  Lord  Palmerston  to 
the  Foreign  Office  and  the  initiation  of  the  active  inter- 
vention of  Great  Britain  in  all  parts  of  the  world  which 
marked  the  Palmerstonian  era.  A  strenuous  foreign 
policy,  increased  armaments,  high  expenditure  and  high 
taxation,  such  was  the  political  chain  every  link  of  which 
was  to  Cobden  a  separate  object  of  detestation.  The 
long  direction  of  our  foreign  policy  by  Lord  Palmerston 
called  forth  all  his  powers  of  criticism  and  active  oppo- 
sition. Lord  Morley  summarizes  the  position  by  observ- 
ing that  "  his  political  history,  from  this  time  down  to 
the  year  when  they  both  died,  is  one  long  antagonism 
to  the  ideas  which  were  concentrated  in  Lord  Palmer- 
ston." ' 

The  early  fruits  of  the  policy  were  our  mischievous 
intervention  in  the  affair  of  the  Spanish  Marriage,  the 
dispatch  of  a  British  fleet  to  the  Tagus  in  pursuance  of 
our  claim  to  dictate  a  form  of  constitutional  government 
to  Portugal,  an  opposition  to  the  Algerian  policy  of 
France,  the  dispatch  of  Lord  Minto  on  a  roving  mission 
to  Italy,  and  a  series  of  pushful  acts  in  Nicaragua  which 
threatened  serious  trouble  with  the  United  States.  The 
outbreak  of  revolutionary  movements  in  France,  Austria 
and    Germany,    the     terrible    famine    and    discontent    in 

1  "Life,"  ii.  p.  6. 
54 


The   Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

Ireland,  and  the  Chartist  demonstrations  in  this  country 
under  Fergus  O'Connor,  conspired  to  give  an  unusually 
menacing  atmosphere  to  politics.  Cobden's  concern  with 
Ireland  was  deep  and  intimate,  and  he  early  grasped  the 
essential  importance  of  a  radical  land  policy  which  should 
place  the  peasants  in  effective  control  of  their  land  and 
in  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  it  bore. 

But  his  larger  thought  busied  itself  with  the  under- 
mining of  the  politics  which  kept  the  fear  of  war  always 
alive  in  Europe  and  absorbed  so  large  a  share  of  the 
results  of  economic  progress  in  armed  preparations.  In 
1849  tms  thought  found  political  expression  in  a  motion  in 
the  House  of  Commons  in  favour  of  international  arbitra- 
tion. "  My  plan,"  he  writes  to  George  Combe,  "does  not 
embrace  the  scheme  of  a  congress  of  nations,  or  imply 
the  belief  in  the  millennium,  or  demand  your  homage  to 
the  principles  of  non-resistance.  I  simply  propose  that 
England  should  offer  to  enter  into  an  agreement  with 
other  countries — France,  for  instance — binding  them  to 
refer  any  dispute  that  may  arise  to  arbitration.  I  do  not 
mean  to  refer  the  matter  to  another  sovereign's  powers, 
but  that  each  party  should  appoint  plenipotentiaries  in 
the  form  of  commissioners,  with  a  proviso  for  calling  in 
arbitrators  in  case  they  cannot  agree."  l  The  House 
of  Commons  was  not  yet  educated  up  to  grasping  the 
importance  or  the  practicability  of  such  a  proposal. 
Cobden  was  not,  however,  disheartened  by  a  chill  recep- 
tion, and  wrote  :  "  Next  session  I  will  repeat  my  pro- 
posals, and  I  will  also  bring  the  House  to  a  division  upon 
another  and  a  kindred  motion,  for  negotiating  with 
foreign    countries,   for   stopping    any   further   increase   of 

1   Quoted   "  Life,"  ii.   p.   44.      This  is  an   anticipation   of   what    is 

virtually  the  policy  adopted  by  the  United  States  Government  in 
1 9 1 4.  in  the  conclusion  of  a  series  of  arbitration  treaties  with  Great 
Britain,   France  and  other  countries. 

55 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

armaments  and,  if  possible,  for  agreeing  to  a  gradual 
disarmament."  ! 

''In  fact,  I  merely  wish  to  bind  them  to  do  that 
before  a  war  which  nations  always  virtually  do  after  it. 
As  for  the  argument  that  nations  will  not  fulfil  their 
treaties,  that  would  apply  to  all  international  engage- 
ments. We  have  many  precedents  in  favour  of  my  plan. 
One  advantage  about  it  is  that  it  could  do  no  harm  ;  for 
the  worst  that  could  happen  would  be  a  resort  to  the 
means  which  has  hitherto  been  the  only  mode  of  settling 
national  quarrels.  Will  you  think  again  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  tell  me  whether  there  is  anything  impracticable 
about  it  ?  " 

In  August  1849  Cobden  attended  the  Peace  Congress 
at  Paris  over  which  Victor  Hugo  presided,  a  very  success- 
ful gathering,  which  brought  him  once  more  into  personal 
touch  with  his  friend  Bastiat.  The  following  account  of 
the  gathering  and  its  proceedings  was  given  by  Charles 
Sumner,  the  Chairman  of  the  American  delegation  at  the 
Congress  : — 

"  The  month  of  August  last  witnessed  at  Paris  a 
Congress  or  Convention  of  persons  from  various  coun- 
tries, to  consider  what  could  be  done  to  promote  the 
sacred  cause  of  Universal  Peace.  France,  Germany, 
Belgium,  England  and  the  United  States  were  repre- 
sented by  large  numbers  of  men  eminent  in  business, 
politics,  literature,  religion  and  philanthropy.  The 
Catholic  Archbishop  of  Paris  and  the  eloquent  Protestant 
preacher,  M.  Athanase  Coquerel  ;  Michel  Chevalier, 
Horace  Say  and  Frederic  Bastiat,  distinguished  political 
economists ;  Emile  de  Girardin,  the  most  important 
political  editor  of  France  ;  Victor  Hugo,  illustrious  in 
literature  ;  Lamartine,  whose  glory  it  is  to  have  turned 
the  recent   French  Revolution,  at  its  beginning,  into  the 

1  Cnioted  "  Life,"  ii.  p.  48. 

56 


The  Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

path  of  peace  ;  and  Richard  Cobden,  the  world-renowned 
British  statesman,  the  unapproachable  model  of  an  earnest, 
humane  and  practical  reformer — all  these  gave  to  this 
august  assembly  the  sanction  of  their  presence  or  appro- 
bation. Victor  Hugo,  on  taking  the  chair  as  President, 
in  an  address  of  persuasive  eloquence,  shed  upon  the 
occasion  the  illumination  of  his  genius  ;  while  Mr.  Cob- 
den, participating  in  all  the  proceedings,  impressed  upon 
them  his  characteristic  common  sense. 

"  The  Congress  adopted,  with  entire  unanimity,  a 
series  of  resolutions,  asserting  the  duty  of  Governments 
to  submit  all  differences  between  them  to  arbitration,  and 
to  respect  the  decisions  of  arbitrators  ;  also  asserting  the 
necessity  of  a  general  and  simultaneous  disarming,  not 
only  as  a  means  of  reducing  the  expenditure  absorbed  by 
armies  and  navies,  but  also  of  removing  a  permanent 
cause  of  disquietude  and  irritation.  The  Congress  con- 
demned all  loans  and  taxes  for  wars  of  ambition  or 
conquest.  It  earnestly  recommended  the  friends  of  peace 
to  prepare  public  opinion,  in  their  respective  countries, 
for  the  formation  of  a  Congress  of  Nations,  to  revise  the 
existing  International  Law  and  to  constitute  a  High 
Tribunal  for  the  decision  of  controversies  among  nations. 
In  support  of  these  objects,  the  Congress  solemnly  in- 
voked the  representatives  of  the  Press,  so  potent  to 
diffuse  truth,  and  also  all  ministers  of  religion,  whose 
holy  office  it  is  to  encourage  goodwill  among  men." 

No  little  part  of  the  success  of  the  arrangements  was 
due  to  the  recently  appointed  secretary  of  the  Peace 
Society,  the  Rev.  Henry  Richard,  to  whose  name  and 
person  a  considerable  importance  attaches.  For  during 
the  remainder  of  his  public  life  Mr.  Richard  was  Cobden's 
most  energetic  colleague  and  the  recipient  of  his  closest 
confidence  in  matters  of  foreign  policy  and  internationalism. 
As    editor   of   the    Herald   of  Peace,  the   organ    of    the 

57 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Society,  and,  later  on,  in  1855,  one  of  the  editorial 
writers  in  the  Morning  and  Evening  Star,  he  did  immense 
service  to  the  cause  of  an  enlightened  policy.  In  his 
later  years,  after  Cobden's  death,  he  sat  in  Parliament, 
entering  it  in  1868  as  Member  for  the  Merthyr  Boroughs, 
and  held  his  seat  for  nearly  twenty  years.  His  greatest 
parliamentary  achievement  consisted  in  carrying,  in  1873, 
a  motion  in  favour  of  international  arbitration  similar  to 
that  which  Cobden  brought  forward  in  1849.  ^n  J88o 
he  also  introduced  into  the  House  a  motion  in  favour 
of  gradual  disarmament  by  mutual  arrangement,  which 
was  accepted  in  a  modified  form  by  the  Government. 

With  Mr.  Richard  from  1849  onwards  until  his  death 
Cobden  conducted  a  voluminous  correspondence,  the 
greater  part  of  which  has  been  preserved  and  forms  an 
intimate  revelation  of  the  unceasing  thought  and  energy 
which  Cobden  brought  to  bear  upon  all  matters  of  an 
international  bearing.  I  propose  to  draw  largely  upon 
this  source,  hitherto  with  certain  rare  exceptions  un- 
published, taking  the  matter  year  by  year,  and  incor- 
porating, by  way  of  enlargement  and  explanation,  other 
letters  and  material  which  have  not  been  made  public 
or  which,  if  published,  have  not  been  made  accessible 
to  general  use. 

There  is  no  better  illustration  of  the  close  outlook 
which  Cobden  kept  upon  the  wide  and  various  scope 
of  our  world  relations  than  is  afforded  by  his  strictures 
upon  the  Borneo  affair  in  1849,  and  his  endeavours  to 
drag  into  the  light  of  public  day  a  remote  piece  of 
wrongdoing  which  seemed  likely  to  be  hushed  up. 

To  Mr.  Richard  he  writes  (date  November  26th) 
as  follows  : — 

"  Something  should  be  done  about  that  horrid  and 
cowardly    butchery   on    the    coast    of   Borneo.     See    the 

58 


HENRY    RICHARD    (l8l  2-88). 


lTo  face  p.  58. 


The  Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1 850-2 

Daily  News  of  to-day  for  a  letter  of  mine  on  the  subject, 
signed  '  A  Watchful  Looker-on.'  You  might  insert 
it  in  the  Herald  of  Peace  or  write  an  article.  You  will 
find  in  the  Illustrated  News  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks 
back,  a  full  account  of  the  massacre  with  pictures  of 
head-roasting  by  Rajah  Brooke's  allies.  If  such  cruel 
and  cowardly  atrocities  as  these  go  unnoticed,  we  shall 
sink,  as  a  nation,  to  the  level  of  the  Spaniards  of  the 
sixteenth  century." 

An  undated  letter  of  this  period  adds  the  following 
piece  of  criticism  : — 

"  It  seems  little  short  of  madness,  with  India  in  a 
blaze,  to  be  embarking  in  fresh  conquests  of  territory 
in  Borneo.  But  to  that  it  will  come  unless  Lord  Derby 
be  encouraged  to  resist  the  cliques  and  jobbers  who  will 
now  beset  him.  There  are  debts  and  mortgages  and 
pecuniary  interests  of  all  sorts  impelling  certain  parties 
to  incessant  activity  to  get  the  Government  to  take  to 
Sarawak." 

"  Those  who  are  opposed  to  such  a  foolish  policy, 
those  who  wish  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the  wars  and 
crimes  of  the  Cape  and  of  India,  all  free-traders  who 
really  know  what  their  principles  mean,  will  sign  the 
Memorial  to  Derby." 

He  follows  up  (December  ioth)  by  urging  Mr. 
Richard  to  summon  a  meeting  of  the  Peace  Society  to 
take  action. 

"  I  have  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hume,  who  is  in  Norfolk, 
enclosing  a  communication  for  the  Daily  News,  which 
will  appear  to-morrow  upon  the  Bornean  massacre.  If 
he  should  be  in  town,  I  think  he  would  take  the  chair 
at  your  public  meeting.  It  is  no  longer  a  matter  of 
choice  whether  the  Peace  Society  should  have  a  meeting. 

59 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

You  have  been  so  often  called  upon  that,  unless  you  raise 
your  public  protest,  your  moral  power  will  be  injured 
in  other  directions." 

A  duplicate  of  the  longest  and  most  interesting  of 
these  letters,  addressed  to  John  Bright,1  appears  in 
Morley's  "  Life."  The  agitation  on  the  Borneo  affair 
occupied  a  good  deal  of  Cobden's  attention  in  the  early 
weeks  of  1850,  though,  as  the  letter  of  January  5th 
shows,  other  issues  of  wider  import  began  to  open  out. 
There  is  no  more  convincing  proof  of  Cobden's  pene- 
trating grasp  of  the  directing  forces  in  foreign  and 
imperial  policy  than  his  constant  exposure  of  the  loan- 
mongering  and  debt-collecting  operations  in  which  our 
Government  engaged  either  as  principal  or  agent.  The 
allusion  to  an  attempted  Russian  loan  in  a  following 
letter  is  the  discovery  of  scent  which  grew  very  hot  a 
little  later  on. 

His  early  correspondence  with  Mr.  Richard  was 
largely  given  to  these  questions  of  the  pressure  of 
finance  in   moulding  foreign  policy. 

"  ^December  6th. 

"  You  must  get  Captain  Mundy's  edition  of  '  Brooke's 
Diary.'  It  was  published  originally  by  Captain  Keppel, 
and  some  horrid  passages  were  omitted  by  the  discretion 
of  his  friends  ;  but  a  i\qw  edition  by  Captain  Mundy 
was  published,  whilst  Brooke  was  afterwards  at  home, 
and  those  parts  were  restored — see  the  first  volume, 
pp.  311,  etc.,  and  p.  325 — there  are  details  of  bloodshed 
and  executions,  which,  if  they  had  appeared  in  the  first 
volume,  would  have  checked  the  sentimental  mania  which 
gave  Brooke  all  his  powers  for  evil. 

"The  above  is  information  which  I  have  from  a  friend 

1  Cobden  frequently  wrote  the  same  letter  on  public  affairs  to  two 
or  three  correspondents. 

60 


The  Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

who  knows  all  about  the  affair  from  the  beginning,  and 
it    may    be    relied    on.      I    have    not    the    book — I    fear 
Gurney    will    be    an    obstacle    to    anything    being    done. 
I  sometimes  doubt  whether  his  obstruction  at  every  step 
does  not  more  than  counteract  any  advantage  derived  by 
this  Society  from   the   influence   of  his   name.      I   don't 
understand  men  of  the  world,  when  they  tell   us  we  must 
rely    upon    the    influence    of    Christian     principles,    and 
boggle  at  every  proposal  to  enforce  them  in   the  current 
proceedings   of  Governments  and  societies.     If  a  monk 
held  such   language   in   his  cell,   and   invited   us   to   rely 
upon  fasts  and  flagellations,  I  could  see  some  consistency 
in  it,  but  when  such  sentiments  come  from  a  millionaire 
in    Lombard    Street,  they  pass    my  comprehension  !     If 
I  wished  to  do  as  little  as  possible,  I  should  wish  to  be 
able  to  convince  myself  that  I   was  in   this  path  of  duty 
when  I  folded  my  arms,  and  exhorted   people  to  pray  for 
the  triumph  of  Christian  principles.     St.  Paul  did  some- 
thing more  than  that,  and  so  did  George  Fox.     See  the 
Manchester  Examiner    of  Saturday    next    for    an    article 
which  I  have  sent  upon  this  Borneo  affair.     The  paper 
will  be   forwarded    to    you.     I    shall    be    at    Leeds    and 
Sheffield   the  week    after    next,   and    will    allude    to    the 
subject  if  I   can.     It  shocks  me  to  think  what  fiendish 
atrocities   may   be  committed  by  English  arms,  without 
rousing   any   conscientious   resistance  at   home,  provided 
they  be  only  far  enough  off,  and  the  victims  too  feeble 
to  trouble  us  with  their  remonstrances  or  groans.     We, 
as  a  nation,  have  an  awful  retribution   in  store  for  us, 
if  Heaven  strike  a  just  reckoning,  as  I  believe  it  does,  for 
wicked    deeds,   even    in    this   world.     There   must  be  a 
public  and  solemn  protest  against  this  wholesale  massacre. 
The  Peace  Society  and  the  Aborigines  Society  are  shams, 
if  such  deeds  go  unrebuked.     We  cannot  go  before  the 
world  with  clean  hands  on  any  other  question  if  we  are 

61 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

silent  spectators  of  such  atrocities.      I  will  think  over  and 
talk  over  with  you  the  form  of  my  motion." 


'■'■January  5,  1850. 

{<  The  House  meets,  I  believe,  on  the  31st,  therefore 
the  30th  would  be  a  good  day  for  your  Bornean  meeting. 
Gurney's  decision  is  precisely  what  I  should  have 
expected  from  the  first — Lombard  Street  associations 
and  his  family  connections  have  so  smothered  his  natural 
instincts,  and  paralysed  his  individual  action,  that  you 
must  never  expect  to  see  him  in  the  public  arena  upon 
any  question  which  does  not  pass  current  with  The 
Times  and  its  readers,  or  have  the  sanction  of  the  Prince, 
or  a  Bishop.  It  is  a  sad  pity  that  so  much  native 
goodness  should  be  neutralized  by  the  smiles  of  fortune. 
The  old  Churchmen  who  penned  the  Liturgy  were  wise 
in  making  us  Episcopalians  pray  for  deliverance  '  in  the 
time  of  our  wealth.'  The  Friends  ought  to  adopt  the 
prayer. 

"  I  have  heard  that  there  are  agents  in  London 
negotiating  for  a  loan  for  the  Russian  Government ;  1 
am  trying  to  satisfy  myself  of  the  correctness  of  the 
information.  If  such  a  project  be  publicly  launched, 
you  must  call  a  public  meeting,  and  I  can  make  such 
an  appeal  as  will  shame  anybody  from  taking  a  part 
in  the  transaction  who  may  not  be  lost  to  all  sense  of 
humanity,  justice  or  patriotism." 

"  April  18,    1850. 

"Look  in  the  'money  articles'  of  'The  Times  to-day. 
The  creditors  of  the  Spanish  Government  are  talking  of 
petitioning  Parliament  to  collect  their  debts.  We  must 
watch  with  jealousy  the  first  attempt  of  this  kind,  and 
be  prepared  to  agitate  against  it.  Did  you  see  the  report 
in.  the   paper   of   the    Admiral   on   the  South   American 

62 


The  Policy   of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

Station  having  demanded  paying  of  the  debts  due  to 
English  creditors  by  the  Government  of  Venezuela  ?  I 
am  anxious  to  know  whether  the  Stock  Exchange  Loans 
are  included  in  the  claim.  Do  you  know  anybody  in 
the  City  who  would  inform  us  ? 

"Have  you  ever  thought  of  collecting  some  facts  showing 
the  demoralizing  influence  of  the  barracks  in  our  large 
towns — the  depreciation  of  the  value  of  property  or  rather 
the  check  to  the  increase  in  its  value  as  compared  with 
other  parts  of  the  town,  their  interference  with  the  con- 
venience of  the  towns  by  preventing  females  of  respect- 
ability and  families  from  taking  promenade  exercise  in 
the  direction  of  the  barracks — the  number  of  beer-shops 
and  brothels  in  their  neighbourhood,  the  number  of  cases 
in  which  young  women  are  debauched  and  become  charged 
to  the  parish  with  illegitimate  children,  etc.  ? 

"  You  might,  through  your  own  friends  and  members 
of  the  Society,  collect  some  startling  information  upon 
these  points." 

"  April  20,    1850. 

"Since  I  wrote,  I  learn  that  at  the  Spanish- Bonds 
Meeting  to  which  I  referred,  Baron  Rothschild,  M.P., 
spoke  against  any  appeal  to  our  Government  for  aid, 
and  he  told  his  hearers  that  if  a  motion  were  made  in 
Parliament  for  aid  to  force  payment  from  the  Spanish 
Government  he  should  vote  against  it.  This  was  spoken 
for  the  hustings,  and  is  a  proof  that  our  anti-loan  meet- 
ings have  told.  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  tract  about 
Indian  wars.  But  in  my  opinion  you  ought  to  bring  the 
cases  of  Lord  Gough  and  Major  Edwards  specifically 
before  the  public,  so  as  to  turn  the  current  which  is 
flowing  in  their  favour." 

•  •  •  •  • 

But  the  year  1850  was  illuminated  by  a  bigger  and  a 
graver  issue  of   the  same  nature  in  which  the  character 

63 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  Palmerstonian  policy  was  dramatized,  the  celebrated 
Don  Pacifico  incident.  This  person  was  an  obscure 
Levantine  Jew  whose  financial  operations  had  made  him 
so  unpopular  in  Athens  that  a  mob  had  sacked  his  house. 
A  naturalized  British  subject,  he  called  upon  our  Govern- 
ment to  exact  compensation.  Lord  Palmerston  willingly 
espoused  his  cause  and,  failing  by  diplomatic  means  to 
bring  the  Greek  Government  to  reason,  directed  Admiral 
Parker  to  blockade  the  coast  and  to  seize  Greek  merchant 
vessels.  Thus  Greece  was  forced  to  yield.  Incidentally 
the  episode  caused  strained  relations  with  France  and  the 
withdrawal  of  her  Ambassador,  by  reason  of  the  uncere- 
monious treatment  accorded  to  his  proposal  of  "  good 
offices."  Palmerston  was  strongly  attacked  in  Parliament, 
and  a  hostile  resolution  in  the  Lords,  proposed  by  Lord 
Stanley,  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  twenty-seven.  A 
great  historic  debate  took  place  in  the  House  of 
Commons  in  which  Palmerston,  enunciating  the  famous 
"  Civis  Komanus  "  doctrine,  won  a  temporary  triumph, 
and,  far  more  important,  established  the  novel  precedent 
upon  which  so  much  of  our  later  financial  imperialism 
has  been  sustained. 

Cobden  was  quick  to  realize  the  profound  significance 
of  "  the  Greek  affair,"  and  we  find  him  as  early  as  April 
23rd,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Richard,  urging  the  suitability 
of  the  Don  Pacifico  case  for  international  arbitration. 

"  It  seems  that  there  is,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  article 
in  to-day's  Times,  a  prospect  of  still  further  delay  about 
the  Greek  affair.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  draw  up  a 
memorial  to  the  Prime  Minister  or  else  a  petition  to 
Parliament  upon  the  subject  ?  The  object,  of  course, 
should  be  to  show  the  propriety  of  submitting  the  whole 
affair  to  the  arbitration  of  disinterested  parties.  It  is  just 
the  case  for  arbitration.     And  the  memorial  should  speak 

64 


The  Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

in  terms  of  strong  condemnation  of  a  system  of  inter- 
national policy  which  leaves  the  possibility  of  two  nations 
being  brought  to  such  a  state  of  hostility  upon  questions 
of  such  insignificant  importance.  Here  is  a  dispute  about 
a  few  thousand  pounds,  or  of  personal  insult,  matters 
which  might  be  equitably  adjusted  by  two  or  three 
impartial  individuals  of  average  intelligence  and  character, 
for  the  settlement  of  which  a  fleet  of  line-of-battle  ships 
has  been  put  in  requisition,  and  the  entire  commerce  ot 
a  friendly  nation  largely  engaged  in  trade  with  our  own 
people  has  been  for  months  subjected  to  interruption. 
It  should  be  stated  that  apart  from  the  outrage  which 
such  proceedings  are  calculated  to  inflict  upon  the  feel- 
ings of  humanity  and  justice,  they  must  tend  to  bring 
diplomacy  into  disrepute.  Without  offering  any  opinion 
on  the  merits  of  the  question,  you  should  pray  that  our 
Government  should  agree  at  once  to  submit  the  whole 
matter  to  the  absolute  decision  of  arbitrators  mutually 
appointed,  and  it  might  be  added  that  this  case  affords  a 
strong  argument  for  entering  upon  a  general  system  of 
arbitration  treaties,  by  which  such  great  inconveniences 
and  dangers  springing  from  such  trivial  causes  may  be 
averted  for   the  future. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  an  occasion  on  which  you 
might  frame  a  very  practical  memorial,  and  thus  put  the 
present  system  in  the  wrong  in  the  eyes  of  even  those 
men  of  business  and  politicians  who  do  not  go  with  you 
on   principle." 

Apart  from  his  unceasing  attempts  in  Parliament  to 
secure  a  revision  and  reduction  of  military  and  naval 
expenditure  as  an  integral  part  of  a  pacific  foreign  policy, 
two  other  matters  of  international  import  occupied 
Cobden  during  this  year.  One  was  the  preparation  for 
the  Great  Exposition,  of  which  towards  the  close  of  this 

65  E 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

year  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Commissioners.  The 
following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Cobden  to 
Mrs.  Schwabe,  dated  December  27th,  relates  to  this 
appointment  : 

"Do  you  take  much  interest  in  the  Exposition  of  Arts 
and  Manufactures  which  is  to  take  place  in  1850  in 
London  ?  We  are  likely  to  be  pretty  much  in  the 
thick  of  it,  for  Mr.  Cobden  is  appointed  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  twenty,  and  the  Duke  of  Richmond  is  one 
of  his  colleagues  !  !  !  I  am  told  that  several  lists  of  names 
were  presented  to  the  Prince  and  that  Mr.  Cobden's 
name  appeared  in  them  all."  ' 

In  this  Exposition  Cobden  saw  a  mighty  instrument  of 
international  goodwill  and  took  up  his  duties  with  great 
enthusiasm.  How  the  Greek  affair  rankled  is,  however, 
seen  in  the  earliest  of  the  letters  which  show  him  launched 
upon  his  new  interest  : 

"If  you  present  a  memorial  about  Greece,  it  must  now 
be  of  a  retrospective  character,  as  I  suppose  the  affair  is 
finished,  disgracefully  I  think  to  ourselves. 

"  With  reference  to  the  memorial  about  warlike  instru- 
ments in  the  Exposition,  I  would  advise  you  to  send  it 
to  the  Prince  in  the  usual  way,  but  would  not  press  him 
for  an  interview.  I  know  that  he  is  sorely  perplexed  by 
the  disaffection  of  a  portion  of  the  aristocracy  towards 
his  (for  them)  too  generous  and  philanthropic  scheme. 
We  of  the  Peace  Party  ought  to  give  him  every  possible 
support  and  seek  to  avoid  cause  of  embarrassment  to  him. 
Therefore,  I  would  advise  you  not  to  call  for  an  interview 
but  to  content  yourselves  by  recording  in  a  memorial  to 
him  your  opinion  against  exhibiting  weapons  of  human 
destruction.     At  the  same  time  I  hope  you  will  be  not 

1  "  Reminiscences,"  p.  150. 

66 


The   Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

sparing    in    your    expressions    of  approval    of   his    truly 
magnificent  project.   .   .   . 

"  1  intend  to  move  tor  a  return  of  the  ships,  men, 
guns,  etc.,  employed  in  collecting  this  miserable  £10,000 
from  the  Government  of  Greece.  What  a  satire  upon 
our  modern  system  of  diplomacy  !  " 

In  the  latter  months  of  this  year  a  good  many  letters 
to  Mr.  Richard  are  concerned  with  the  proposed  visit  to 
London  of  the  great  French  thinker,  writer  and  states- 
man, M.  Lamartine.  At  first  some  hopes  were  enter- 
tained that  he  would  appear  and  speak  at  an  Exeter  Hall 
demonstration  of  a  definitely  "peace"  nature.  But  the 
bird  was  shy,  as  the  following  letters  show  : 

'■'■September  13,  1850. 
11  Lamartine  is  in  an  uneasy  position,  personally  and 
politically.  He  is  a  disappointed  man,  if  not  a  ruined 
one  ;  and  his  visit  to  London  will  probably  have  for  its 
object  to  try  to  retrieve  his  embarrassed  fortunes,  and 
regain  some  of  his  political  prestige.  The  Peace  Party 
does  not,  at  present,  offer  him  a  sufficiently  firm  or  lofty 
pedestal  from  which  to  harangue  the  world.  At  least 
this  is  probably  his  opinion.  He  is  not  a  man  of  fixed 
principles,  and  is  incapable  of  continuous  logical  action. 
There  is  quite  as  much  danger  as  security  in  such  allies. 
In  fact,  I  am  losing  all  confidence  in  men  of  impulsive 
temperament,  and  cannot  inspire  myself  with  faith,  hope 
or  charity  towards  the  mere  phraseurs." 

"  September  14,  1850. 
"  As  soon  as  I  received  your  note  apprising  me  of  the 
decision  of  M.  Lamartine  not  to  accept  an  invitation  to 
meet  the  Peace  Party  at  Exeter  Hall,  I  made  some 
arrangements  which  preclude  my  visiting  London  or 
appearing    in    public    for   some    weeks   to  come.     I  am 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

sorry,  therefore,  that  I  cannot  meet  M.  Lamartine  at 
the  London  Tavern  on  Wednesday.  It  does  not  appear 
very  clearly  from  your  note  what  is  the  immediate  object 
of  the  demonstration.  If  it  be  a  national  one,  it  must 
fail,  from  want  of  time  to  make  the  preparations.  I  do 
not  see  how  it  can  be  private,  since  his  speech  is  to  be 
published  ;  and  besides  many  of  those  who  will  attend 
may,  like  myself,  be  personally  unacquainted  with  him. 
But  what  public  object  do  you  hope  to  gain  by  so  ill- 
defined  if  not  equivocal  a  demonstration.  It  does  not 
identify  him  with  the  Peace  Congress  movement.  May 
not  it  possibly  identify  those  who  assist  at  it  with  some- 
thing else  ?  I  am  puzzled,  I  confess.  Nor  has  any  letter 
come  from  Mr.  Gilpin  to  enlighten  my  ignorance." 

"  September  18,  1850. 
"  If  you  can  elicit  from  Lamartine  a  letter  expressive 
of  sympathy  for  the  Peace  Movement,  you  will  do  well. 
His  utterances,  whether  by  voice  or  pen,  like  the  trumpet 
of  an  Archangel,  are  heard  and  felt  by  all  the  nations  of 
the  civilized  world.  Nor  will  you  run  any  risk  in 
identifying  yourselves  with  his  past  conduct.  He 
behaved  in  the  truest  spirit  of  Christian  heroism  during 
the  terrible  ordeal  of  the  Paris  revolution,  and  for  the 
stand  he  then  made  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  humanity, 
he  is  entitled  to  our  lasting  gratitude.  But  for  the  future 
I  tremble  at  identifying  ourselves  with  any  one  whose 
impulses  are  constantly  taking  the  bit  of  reason  between 
their  teeth  and  running  away  with  them  beyond  the 
region  ~of  logic." 

An'undated  fragment  of  a  letter  sheds  a  curious  light 
upon  Lamartine's  "  business  "  object  in  his  visit  : 

a  When     at  ~  Frankfort,     I     heard     something;     about 
Lamartine's  intention   to  come    to    England    to    try    to 

68 


The  Policy  ot  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

interest  people  here  in  a  project  for  colonizing  his  domain 
(lately  given  to  him  by  the  Sultan)  in  Asia  Minor.  The 
attempt,  if  made,  must  fail,  and  if  openly  launched  would 
not,  I  think,  increase  his  moral  influence.  If  the  land 
were  under  any  Christian  government  it  might  be  worth 
consideration.  I  mention  this  privately  for  your  own 
information,  and  that  you  may  let  any  others  into  the 
secret  whom  you  think  proper.  I  fear  his  affairs  are 
involved  to  an  extent  not  even  suspected  by  his  friends, 
and  although  he  is  making  a  glorious  fight  for  independ- 
ence, I  fear  he  will  be  beaten.  Anything  that  can  be 
legitimately  done  to  help  him  by  our  friends  in  England 
it  is  desirable  to  do,  but  no  feelings  of  enthusiasm  for  the 
man,  or  gratitude  for  his  exertions  in  the  cause  of  peace, 
ought  to  tempt  any  of  our  influential  friends  to  give 
their  names  to  a  project  which  will  pretty  certainly 
end  in  disappointment  to  all  who  are  tempted  to 
10m  it. 

How  close  an  eye  Cobden  kept  on  the  continental 
situation  is  illustrated  from  the  following  letter  dealing 
"  faithfully  "  with  the  opportunism  of  the  daily  Press. 
The  German  situation  had  grown  critical.  For  Austria, 
having  now  overcome  the  revolts  of  1848  in  Hungary 
and  other  territories,  summoned  the  Diet  of  the 
Germanic  Confederation  over  which  she  presided,  in 
order  to  organize  resistance  against  the  Prussian  claims 
for  hegemony.  Two  rival  organizations  formed  them- 
selves, and  for  a  short  time  the  danger  of  war  was 
real,  until  finally  Prussia  gave  way  and  the  former 
Constitution  of  1 8 1 5  was  restored  and  accepted  by  all 
parties.  Other  letters  of  this  year  show  the  deep  concern 
which  Cobden  always  manifested  lest  his  stress  on 
principles  should  lead  him  to  be  regarded  as  a  "  mere 
idealist  "  or  a  "  sentimentalist." 

69 


Richard  Cobdcn  :   The  International  Man 

"  ^December  2,  1850. 

"  There  is  an  article  in  Saturday's  Daily  News  which 
made  me  rub  my  eyes  and  look  again  at  the  heading  of 
the  page  to  see  if  it  could  really  be  that  paper  which  was 
saying  directly  the  opposite  of  what  it  said  exactly  a 
fortnight  before,  when  commenting  upon  the  Wrexham 
meeting.  Then  we  were  doing  great  service,  now  we 
ought  to  discontinue  the  agitation  !  What  has  altered  the 
case  ?  The  state  of  Europe  was  the  .  same  precisely  on 
the  1 6th  as  the  30th.  The  danger  of  war  in  Germany 
was  more  imminent  on  the  former  than  the  latter  date. 
This  paper  has  more  power  to  injure  us  than  has  The 
Times,  because  it  is  supposed  to  be  honestly  with  us. 
It  must  be  repudiated  and  exposed  by  the  Peace  Party. 
I  wish  you  would  get  the  two  articles,  that  of  the  16th 
or  17th,  and  that  of  Saturday — compare  them — make 
extracts  of  the  contradictory  passages,  and  let  them  be 
published  somehow  or  somewhere.  The  editor  ought  to 
be  made  to  swallow  the  leek  himself,  and  probably  the 
best  way  would  be  if  you  were  to  write  a  letter  to  him 
containing  a  couple  of  short  extracts  from  the  rival 
articles,  and  ask  which  is  to  be  understood  as  expressive 
of  the  real  opinion  of  the  Daily  News,  and  ask  what 
are  the  public  circumstances  which  have  wrought  such  a 
sudden  change — that  it  cannot  have  been  the  warlike 
demonstration  in  Germany,  for  they  were  more  imminent 
and  threatening  on  the  16th  than  the  30th.  We  are 
bound  in  self-defence  to  expose  this  shocking  apostasy. 
For  my  own  part  I  consider  the  Daily  News  henceforth 
utterly  untrustworthy.  You  may  substitute  The  Times 
for  it  in  your  office  again  with  my  full  consent  whenever 
you  please.  I  shall  write  privately  to  Smith,  the  pro- 
prietor, if  I  can  get  his  address.  It  is  Palmerston 
influence  which  is  at  work,  and  which   I  have  seen   for 

70 


The   Policy  of  Non-intervention,  1850-2 

some    time.      Will    the   time   ever  come  when  an  Jionest 
daily  paper  will   pay  ? 

"  By  the  way,  if  there  be  truth  in  the  report  of  an 
intended  loan  to  Prussia  in  the  City,  we  are  bound  to 
oppose  it  at  a  public  meeting,  otherwise  we  shall  be  open 
to  remark.  Besides,  I  am  prepared  to  show  that  standing 
armies  are  just  as  incompatible  with  liberty  in  Prussia 
as  Austria." 

"December  3,  1850. 

"  Circulars  are  being  issued  in  favour  of  a  bazaar  for 
the  '  League  of  Brotherhood.'  I  do  not  know  exactly 
with  whom  it  originates,  but  I  venture  to  repeat  an 
opinion  which  I  expressed  last  year  that  the  name  is  not 
well  chosen.  This  morning,  at  Mr.  Schwabe's  breakfast- 
table,  the  subject  was  discussed.  Both  my  wife  and 
Mrs.  Schwabe  objected  to  the  '  League  of  Brotherhood  ' 
as  being  a  name  calculated  to  throw  ridicule  or  odium 
upon  the  effort.  Brotherhood  is  '  fraternity,'  a  word 
dragged  through  the  mire  by  red  Republicans  and 
Socialists,  and  to  adopt  it  in  this  country  is  only  to 
burden  ourselves  with  a  needless  disadvantage  in  addition 
to  the  abundant  difficulties  we  have  already  to  contend 
against.  I  would,  therefore,  strongly  urge  our  friends, 
whoever  they  may  be,  to  call  it  a  Peace  Bazaar,  or  Peace 
Congress  Bazaar. 

"  By  the  way,  the  newspapers  report  that  the  Democratic 
Party  in  America  intend  to  put  forward  as  their  candidate 
for  the  next  presidency  General  Houston,  the  conqueror 
of  Texas,  and  that  the  choice  of  the  JVhigs  will  be 
General  Scott,  the  invader  of  Mexico.  If  this  be  true, 
it  will  be  very  discouraging,  and  prove  that  the  democracy 
of  the  New  World  are  impregnated  with  the  war-vice 
of  the  old  ;  and  it  will  make  me  doubt  whether  the  best 
field   of  usefulness  for  our  devoted  friend    Elihu   Burritt 

71 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

would  not  be  in  the  midst  of  his  own  countrymen.  A 
well-organized  Peace  Party  in  the  United  States  might 
deter  both  political  factions  from  putting  up  successful 
warriors  for  the  highest  civil  offices. 

"  What  a  pity  it  is  that  we  have  no  honest  daily  paper 
to  turn  to  account  the  present  enormous  folly  of  the 
German  Governments,  by  showing  up  the  loss  and  ruin 
brought  upon  the  people  by  their  prodigious  military 
efforts,  all  to  end  in  a  telegraphic  messenger  from 
Manteuffel  to  Schwarzenburg,  inviting  a  private  con- 
ference at  Olmutz  where  everything  is  arranged  !  But 
I  am  not  quite  sure  that  we  have  seen  the  full  effects 
in  Prussia  of  this  calling  out  of  the  Landwehr.  Probably 
the  terms  of  the  peace  if  not  very  favourable  to  Prussia 
may  lead  to  internal  convulsions." 

"  "December  18,  185  i. 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  the  way  to  put  down 
duelling  is  to  put  down  the  conventional  cowardice  which 
drives  men  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  against  their  will  to 
stand  up  to  be  shot  at.   .   .   . 

"  It  is  quite  useless  his  troubling  himself  to  write 
to  Lord  John  Russell  about  expelling  Members  of 
Parliament  who  fight  duels.  For  ten  years,  during 
which  I  have  been  in  the  House,  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  heard  of  a  duel  amongst  its  Members.  It  is 
no  longer  a  practical  evil   in   England." 


72 


CHAPTER   V 

PALMERSTONIAN   FOREIGN    POLICY 

During  a  large  part  of  the  next  year  (1851)  Cobden 
was  chiefly  concerned  with  home  affairs,  especially  the 
movement  which  Bright  and  others  were  directing  for 
Parliamentary  Reform,  while  the  detailed  work  connected 
with  the  arrangements  of  the  Great  Exposition  engaged 
much  of  his  energy.  But  his  correspondence  with  Mr. 
Richard  shows  that  he  was  still  keeping  his  eyes  open 
for  opportunities  of  peace  work,  though  two  interesting 
letters  written  late  in  the  year  indicate  very  clearly  the 
divergence  of  his  own  practical  peace  policy  from  that 
of  the  Quaker  absolutists  in  the  Peace  Society. 

The  Kaffir  War,  which  had  been  smouldering  for 
the  last  two  years  in  Cape  Colony,  had  taken  a  more 
dangerous  turn  at  the  end  of  1850,  owing  to  a  murderous 
outbreak  of  the  Kosas,  and  for  more  than  two  years 
a  strong  force  of  soldiers,  burghers  and  auxiliaries,  was 
engaged  in  slowly  tracking  down  the  enemy,  who  were 
eventually  starved  into  submission.  Cobden  lays  his 
finger  accurately  upon  one  perilous  aspect  of  the 
provocative  policy  in  our  Colonies,  where  imperial 
force  is  profitably  utilized  for  interested  colonial 
objects. 

The  visit  of  Kossuth  to  this  country  in  October  was 
an  event  of  considerable  importance  and  of  some  em- 
barrassment. Palmerston's  friends  contended  that  the 
withdrawal    of  the   joint    demand    made    by   Russia  and 

73 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Austria  upon  Turkey,  for  the  extradition  of  the 
Hungarian  leader  and  his  friends  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  that  country,  was  due  to  the  vigorous 
policy  of  Palmerston  in  ordering  the  British  Fleet  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Dardanelles.  Cobden,  however, 
points  out  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bright1  (November  13th)  that 
Palmerston  himself  made  no  such  claim  :  "  You  will 
find  on  referring  to  Palmerston's  speech  on  Roebuck's 
Greek  Debate,  that  in  speaking  of  the  entry  of  our 
fleet  into  the  Dardanelles,  he  himself  informed  us  that 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  withdrew  his  demand  for  the 
extradition  of  the  refugees  on  the  arrival  of  the  Sultan's 
envoy  remonstrating  against  the  demand,  and  before 
any  intelligence  had  reached  Petersburg  of  the  views 
of  the  English  Government."  Cobden's  satisfaction 
at  the  great  reception  given  to  Kossuth  is  intensified 
by  the  slap  in  the  face  given  to  The  Times,  which  had 
conducted  an  elaborate  campaign  of  vilification  against 
the  Hungarian.  Cobden  seized  the  opportunity  of  the 
incident  to  expose  more  clearly  than  before  the  value 
of  his  non-intervention  policy.  It  did  not  mean  that 
one  nation  should  not  express  its  opinion  about  the 
conduct  of  another  nation,  and  on  occasion  make 
formal  remonstrance,  but  that  armed  intervention  was 
wrong  and  unnecessary. 

"  I  remember  at  the  time  making  the  calculation 
and  finding  that  the  newspapers  of  London  and  Paris, 
giving  one  unanimous  expression  for  all  parties  and 
every  shade  of  opinion,  of  indignation  at  the  attempt 
of  the  Northern  Powers  to  violate  the  Law  of  Nations 
in  the  persons  of  Kossuth  and  his  companions,  reached 
Petersburg  at  the  same  time  with  the  Turkish  envoy, 
and  I  felt  convinced,  and  I  said  as  much  in  the  House 
afterwards,    that   it    was   that  expression  of  opinion  from 

'  Quoted  "Life,"  ii.  p.  105. 

74 


Palmcrstonian   Foreign   Policy 

Western  Europe  which  scared  the  despots  instantly  from 

their  prey.     And    you    are    quite    right  ;     it    is    opinion 

and    opinion     only    that     is    wanting    to    establish     the 

principle    of    non-intervention    as    a    Law    of    Nations, 

as    absolutely    as    the    political    refugee    in    a    third    and 

neutral     country     is    protected     now    by    the     Law    of 

Nations." 

The  following   passages  are  from  letters  of  this   year 

to  Mr.  Richard  : 

"  January  26,  1851. 

"  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  whether  the  state- 
ment inserted  in  the  Daily  News  about  concentrating 
a  great  body  of  troops  round  the  metropolis  be  correct. 
But  I  can  easily  believe  that  the  old  Duke  is  capable 
of  such  a  folly,  and  that  the  Whigs  would  not  oppose 
him.  Your  best  plan  will  be  to  write  to  some  of  your 
correspondents  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London,  as 
for  instance  at  Uxbridge,  Brentford,  Hounslow, 
Kingston,  etc.,  and  inquire  whether  anything  is  being 
done  to  secure  quarters  for  more  troops  in  those  towns. 
If  it  turn  out  true,  you  ought  to  get  up  an  agitation 
against  it,  not  only  in  London,  but  in  all  the  neigh- 
bouring places." 

"  March  13,  1851. 

"  I  don't  like  the  wording  of  the  enclosed  resolution. 
It  appears  to  reserve  the  alternative  ot  war.  But  the 
letter  of  your  correspondent  is  very  interesting  as 
showing  the  feeling  of  the  leading  men  at  Washington. 
If  anybody  but  Lord  Palmerston  were  at  the  Foreign 
Office,  something  of  the  same  kind  might  be  done 
with  our  ministers.  But  I  have  not  the  slightest  con- 
fidence in  him.  I  doubt  the  policy  of  interfering  in 
the  Kaffir  business  until  we  have  more  authentic  news. 
The  proper  cure  for  these  recurring  wars  is  to  let  the 
Colonists  bear  the  brunt  of  them.     This  must    be  done 

75 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

by  first  giving  them  the  powers  of  self-government, 
and  then  throwing  on  them  the  responsibility  of  their 
own  policy.  They  would  then  be  very  careful  to  treat 
the  neighbouring  savages  with  justice.  At  present  it  is 
the  interest  of  the  Colonists  to  provoke  the  natives  into 
war,  because  it  leads  to  a  most  profitable  expenditure 
of  British  money. 

"  In  my  remarks  upon  the  Navy  Estimates  on 
Monday  evening,  I  gave  notice  of  my  intention  to  move 
a  resolution  in  the  House  in  favour  of  an  explanation 
with  France,  with  the  view  to  promote  a  diminution 
of  armaments.  This  will  not  go  your  whole  length, 
but  I  should  be  glad  to  see  the  principle  recognized 
that  it  is  the  policy  and  duty  of  a  Government  in 
these  days  to  discourage  the  system  of  rival  warlike 
preparations." 

"  June  13,  185 1. 

"  I  would  not  take  any  notice  of  Girardin.  It  will 
be  only  turned  against  you.  He  does  not,  like  Boudet, 
profess  to  represent  the  Peace  cause  in  the  Chamber. 
His  inconsistency  will  surprise  nobody  that  knows 
him.  It  is  true  that  troops  have  been  congregated 
round  London,  and  I  believe  all  parties  concerned  in 
it  are  now  ashamed  of  it.  But  that  is  the  very  reason 
why  you  ought  to  expose  it  in  your  paper.  The  old 
Duke  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  all.  The  only  disturbance 
created  has  been  by  a  Captain  (Somerset)  in  one  of 
the  Regiments  which  were  brought  up  from  the  country 
to  keep  the  peace.  Could  you  not  get  from  some  of 
your  friends  particulars  of  the  number  of  soldiers 
billeted  in  some  of  the  neighbouring  towns?  The 
effect  upon  the  morals  of  the  towns  will  not  be  very 
favourable. 

"  Some  papers  upon  the  barrack  system    ought  to  be 

76 


Palmerstonian   Foreign  Policy 

published,  showing  the  evil  effects  of  barracks  upon 
their  neighbourhood  :  the  check  they  put  to  the 
growth  of  towns  in  their  vicinity  ;  the  great  number 
of  beershops,  public-houses,  and  brothels  in  their 
neighbourhood  ;  the  reluctance  of  respectable  people  to 
take  exercise  near  them  ;  the  comparatively  low  value 
of -land  in  their  vicinity  as  compared  with  other  parts 
of  the  town." 

"  September  14,  1 8  5  1 . 
"  Did  you  observe  that  in  Signor  Isturitz,  the  Spanish 
minister's  communication  to  The  Times,  defending  the 
execution  of  the  fifty-two  American  sympathizers  at 
the  Havana,  he  justified  the  course  pursued  by  the 
Cuban  authorities  by  citing  the  example  of  Rajah 
Brooke  !  Here  is  the  extract  ;  pray  put  it  on  record, 
for  future  reference  in  the  Herald.  What  a  compliment 
to  us  to  be  publicly  quoted  as  less  clement  than  the 
Spaniards  !  Verily  we  are  a  nation  of  Pharisees,  to 
pretend  to  be  shocked  at  the  minor  atrocities  of  other 
people  and  to  boggle  at  no  amount  of  butchery 
ourselves." 

"■September  19,  1851. 
"  I  send  you  by  this  post  copy  of  correspondence 
which  has  passed  between  the  Liverpool  Peace  Society 
and  Lord  Palmerston.  I  have  written  to  Mr.  Cooke  to 
say  I  regret  that  he  should  have  thanked  his  lordship 
in  advance  for  having  shown  a  disposition  to  forward 
the  object  of  the  Peace  Society,  when  he  plainly 
tells  them  in  his  answer  that  he  will  do  nothing  ! 
Then,  as  I  said  to  Mr.  C,  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  he  did  not  send  a  rejoinder,  for  his  lordship 
laid  himself  open  to  a  ready  answer.  It  seems 
according  to  his  argument  that  although  an  increase 
of  the   PVench  armament    is  always  held  a  good  reason 

77 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

for  increasing  ours,  yet  its  diminution  does  not  apply 
in  the  same  proportion  !  By  the  way,  what  an  answer 
is  this  letter  of  the  Foreign  Minister  to  such  men  as 
Brotherton  &  Co.,  who  bellow  open-mouthed  at  any 
one  who  does  not  show  implicit  confidence  in  his  good 
intentions.  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  you  would 
have  more  chance  of  success  with  Lord  Aberdeen  in 
office,  who  is  capable  of  an  earnest  conviction,  which 
is  the  very  opposite  of  the  character  of  his  supple  and 
frivolous  rival.  But  by  dint  of  dexterous  handling  of  the 
Press,  Lord  P.  has  contrived  to  pass  himself  off  upon 
the  Liberal  Party,  and  win  the  Peace  Party,  as  their 
devoted  friend,  and  I  honestly  believe  he  laughs  at  his 
dupes. 

"  Here  is  a  good  article  from  last  Saturday's  London 
Examiner.  That  paper  has,  with  the  Athenxum,  shown 
a  courageous  adherence  to  its  convictions — affording 
quite  a  contrast  to  the  dastardly  Daily  News.  By  the 
way,  entre  nous,  I  got  a  letter  from  a  new  manager  of 
the  latter,  Mr.  Salisbury,  soliciting  my  co-operation, 
and  offering  to  make  the  D.N.  the  organ  of  the  Pro- 
gressive Party.  In  reply  I  told  him  that  I  ceased  to 
take  in  the  D.N.  more  than  six  months  ago,  and  that 
for  the  last  month  I  had  not  seen  a  copy  of  it,  and 
I  told  the  reason  why,  not  forgetting  the  backsliding 
on  the  Peace  Question,  and  the  cowardly  desertion  on 
the  Borneo  Question,  and  stating  once  for  all  my 
determination  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  paper  that 
was  a  mere  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Foreign 
Minister.  I  suppose  by  his  writing  to  me  that  the 
paper  is  not  doing  well — how  could  it  ?  " 

"November  9,  1851. 
"  I    agree    with    you    to    the    letter    in    all    that    you 
say  about  non-intervention.      I   subscribe  to  every  word 

78 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

of   Girardin's    logical    speech   (I    wish    he   were    halt"   as 
consistent  in   action   as  in   logic),  and  I   venture   to  say 
in    reply     to     the    question     with    which     he    closes   his 
argument,  that  if  England,  America  and  France  would 
proclaim    such    a    law    for    themselves   no    other    Power 
would    dare  to  violate    it.     This    was    my  argument   at 
Winchester.     Kossuth    in    his    speech    had    called    upon 
us  to  say  'Stop'  (the  word  was  his)  to  Russia.     In  my 
remarks,    following    him,    I    said    that    if    England    and 
America   would   first   observe   the    principle    themselves, 
they    might   afterwards  say    '  Stop '   to    Russia,   and   the 
word  would  then  have  as  much  force  as  if  uttered  with 
the  voice   of  a    thousand  cannon.     My   remarks  were  a 
tribute    to   moral  power,  the  power   of  truthful  example. 
The    Times    of   course    perverted    it  ;     and    such    is    the 
terrible   power  of  that   paper   that    I    dare  say   many   of 
my    own    friends    were    misled     by    it.      Whilst    I    go 
heartily  with  you   on  the  principle  of  non-intervention, 
it  appears  that  this   was  the  proper   occasion   for  public 
men   to  proclaim   the    principle,   when    we    had    a  guest 
who   inspired   our   sympathy  and   respect  and    who   was 
himself   the  victim   of  Russian  interference.      But    there 
is  another  reason   why   a  lover  of  freedom  should  come 
forward    in    support    of   the     demonstration    in     honour 
of  Kossuth   in  the    attempt  made  by  the  most  powerful 
organs    of   opinion    to   assassinate    him    morally    on    his 
arrival    here      The    very    honour    of   our    country    was 
at    stake    in    giving    him    a    hearty    welcome    from    the 
moment    that    the     partisans    of    Russia     and     Austria 
endeavoured     to     make     British   soil     the    scene    of   his 
martyrdom. 

"  This  is  altogether  apart  trom  the  Peace  Question. 
But  I  am  afraid  your  Peace  Society  has  not  shown 
cool  judgment  in  publishing  its  address.  Two  questions 
are  mixed  up  in  that  address — that  of  intervention,  and 

79 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

that  of  non-resistance  ;  there  was  an  admirable  oppor- 
tunity for  making  good  the  former  argument,  but  I 
must  say  I  think  mortal  man  never  chose  a  worse 
moment  for  inculcating  the  principle  of  non-resistance. 
Because,  if  ever  there  was  an  unjust  resort  to  violence 
it  was  on  the  part  of  both  Austria  and  Russia  in  their 
assault  upon  the  Hungarians,  who  sought  only  to  carry 
out  their  own  administrative  reforms  in  a  constitutional 
way.  It  is  true  the  latter  were  worsted,  but  that 
will  not  satisfy  those  who  were  not  before  in  favour 
of  non-resistance  that  the  Hungarians  were  in  the 
wrong  in  defending  themselves.  And  then  your  address 
lectures  the  defeated  party  without  a  word  of  censure 
on  the  aggressors.  I  must  say  that  I  do  think  you 
could  not  have  put  forth  your  peace  principle  in  a 
way  more  calculated  to  give  a  handle  to  those  who 
charge  you  with  inviting  oppression  and  injustice.  It 
will,  I  fear,  put  all  who  have  been  co-operating  in  the 
Peace  Movement  latterly  in  a  raise  position.  There 
is  a  great  difficulty  in  acting  together  on  any  great 
public  question,  unless  we  are  agreed  in  principle  — 
but  I  had  hoped  the  Peace  Congress  party  had  hit 
upon  an  expedient  by  which  men  could  combine  for 
measures  of  alleviation,  even  if  they  did  not  all  hope 
for  the  total  extirpation  ot  a  great  evil.  For  this  end 
I  have  always  endeavoured  to  avoid  being  brought  into 
collision  with  the  '  Friends  '  principle,  and  I  had  thought 
they  were  similarly  minded  towards  those  who  were, 
like  myself,  labouring  to  give  practical  effect  as  far  as 
they  could  to  their  doctrines.  But  I  doubt  whether  it 
will  not  be  necessary  for  the  two  Societies  to  make  a 
more  clear  avowal  than  they  have  hitherto  done  of 
their  principles.  This  will  be,  I  think,  required  not 
only  in  justice  to  those  who  do  not  subscribe  to  the 
non-resistance  principles,  but   also  to   those  who   do.      I 

80 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

fear  this  may,  perhaps,  lead  to  a  secession  of  the  Quaker 
party,  and  if'  so  I  should  despair  of  keeping  alive  the 
other  movement.  I  do  not  presume  to  say  that  in  the 
end  the  uncompromising  policy  may  not  be  the  best  ; 
but  I  am  quite  sure  you  will  agree  with  me  in  saying 
that  if  the  agitation  is  to  be  based  exclusively  upon 
the  non-resistance  principle,  it  will  cease  to  occupy  its 
present  position  in  the  domain  of  practical  politics.  I 
venture  to  say  there  are  not  fifty  thousand  people  in 
these  realms  who  will  sympathize  heartily  with  the  first 
part  of  your  address  on  the  present  Kossuth  excite- 
ment. It  may  all  be  true  nevertheless,  and  my  remarks 
must  not  be  supposed  as  implying  anything  more  than  my 
own  opinion  as  to  the  policy  at  this  moment  of  saying  so." 

"November  18,  185  I. 
11 1  do  not  know  that  anything  can  be  done,  that 
may  not  be  as  likely  to  do  harm  as  good  ;  but  it 
appears  to  me,  with  more  and  more  force,  upon  further 
reflection,  that  what  is  called  the  '  peace  party  '  are  in 
a  false  position,  and  that  unless  some  explanation  be 
given,  and  some  distinct  movement  be  made  by  the 
Peace  Congress  Committee,  the  practical  agitation  carried 
on  latterly,  under  the  auspices  of  the  latter,  must  be 
seriously  injured,  and  the  cause  itself  resume  again 
the  position  in  which  it  was  placed  before  the  Peace 
Congress  at  Brussels  was  thought  of.  That  position 
was  not  of  a  character  ever  to  allow  the  Peace  Party 
to  be  more  than  a  passive  asserter  of  the  doctrine  of 
non-resistance  ;  because,  where  that  principle  is  put  for- 
ward as  the  bond  of  union,  it  admits  of  no  agitation 
or  discussion  on  secondary  details.  It  merely  inculcates 
this  lesson — '  don't  resist,'  and  for  those  who  adopt 
the  principle,  war  is  at  an  end.  But  the  object  of  the 
Peace  Congress   movement,  as    I    understood   it,  was  to 

81  F 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

put  forward  some  plans,  the  advocacy  of  which  might 
prepare  men's  minds,  step  by  step,  to  look  upon  the 
abolition  of  war  as  a  possible  thing.  The  advocacy  of 
non-intervention  in  the  domestic  concerns  of  other 
countries  was  one  of  these  modes.  The  practical  object 
I  have  in  view  in  writing  is  to  ask  you  whether  you 
think  it  would  be  well  to  have  a  meeting  to  reiterate 
our  arguments  in  favour  of  that  principle,  called  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Peace  Congress  Committee.  It  would, 
I  think,  be  necessary  to  explain  at  such  a  meeting  the 
distinct  though  not  divergent  movement  of  the  Peace 
Society  and  the  Peace  Congress ;  the  only  stipulation 
on  the  part  of  the  former  being  that  nothing  should 
be  said  or  done  to  compromise  their  principle.  It 
would  not  be  possible  to  avoid  the  topic  of  the  day — 
Kossuth's  visit — but  it  might  be  improved  upon  for 
the  advancement  of  our  agitation.  Again  I  say  I 
don't  know  whether  such  a  meeting  would  do  good 
or   harm,   but   we   are  in   a  false   position." 

"'December  20,  1851. 
"  Now  the  French  business  has  turned  everything 
topsy-turvy  again,  and  that  occupies  the  front  ground 
of  peace  questions.  By  the  way,  there  is  good  to  be 
got  out  of  it.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  a  capital 
illustration  of  the  use  of  an  army  in  a  Constitutional 
State.  It  is  now  seen  that  a  standing  army  can  be 
used  by  even  a  mountebank  or  adventurer,  to  imprison 
its  own  generals,  lock  up  a  legislature,  and  shoot 
broad-cloth  citizens  in  four-story  mansions  !  These  are 
new  uses  of  a  standing  army,  which  will  do  more  to 
cure  the  mania  for  the  military  than  the  slaughtering 
of  tens  of  thousands  of  men  in  wooden  shoes  or  blouses. 
The  bourgeoisie  have  found  that  the  extinguisher  has 
taken   fire  !  " 

82 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

The  year   1852   was  signalized  by  a  fresh  revival    of 
the  alarm  of   a  French  invasion,  a  hasty  application  of 
the  new  Militia  Law  and  a  demand  for  enlarged  expendi- 
ture both  upon  the  Army  and  the  Navy.     The  occasion 
was  the  coup  d'etat  by  Napoleon  "  the  Little,"  by  which 
the    office  of   President    to  which    he  had    been    elected 
four  years  before  was  forcibly  converted  into  "  a  veiled 
despotism,"      first     limited     by     the     Constitution     of 
January    1852    to    ten    years,    a    few  months  later    con- 
verted into  perpetuity.     The  new  war-panic,  the  second 
of   Cobden's   "  Three    Panics,"    was    thus    initiated,  and 
the  martial    ceremonials  and    sentiments    roused    by  the 
death  and  funeral  of  "the  old  Duke"  in  September  of 
the    same    year    poured    fuel    on    the    flames.     A    good 
deal    of    Cobden's    correspondence    with     Mr.    Richard 
turned  on    these   topics,    while    among  the    imperialistic 
issues    which   were  never    lost  sight  of,  the    invasion  of 
Burma  and  the   Rangoon  atrocities  were  matter  for  his 
activity  both  in  the  House  and  in  the  country. 

"January  13,  1852. 
"  Men's  minds  seem  to  be  again  in  such  a  state  of 
confusion  and  trepidation  that  I  fear  they  are  more 
open  to  the  influence  of  a  vague  terror  than  of  cool 
arguments.  I  have  received  many  letters  from  people 
of  whom  I  had  thought  better  things  (George  Grote 
amongst  the  rest),  urging  the  necessity  of  increasing  our 
armaments  as  a  protection  against  the  mad  designs  of 
Louis  Napoleon.  It  is  the  old  folly  over  again.  In 
1847,  after  seventeen  years'  reign  of  the  "Napoleon  of 
Peace "  and  in  the  midst  of  the  entente  cordiale^  there 
was  a  cry  for  more  armaments  as  a  protection  against 
a  French  invasion.  I  began  my  peace  agitation  by 
denouncing  that  attempt.  The  people  refused  to  have 
an    increase    to    the    income    tax,    and   so    there   was   no 

83 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

augmentation  of  the  armaments.  In  a  few  months 
afterwards  came  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  Re- 
public, and  then  folks  exclaimed,  'Cobden  is  a  pretty 
fellow  for  a  prophet.  He  promised  peace,  and  see  what 
has  happened.  The  French  have  taken  the  reins  in 
their  own  hands,  and  we  shall  see  them  overrun  Europe 
again  !  '  Well,  we  have  had  nearly  four  years  of  the 
Republic,  and  The  Times  and  other  organs  of  opinion 
now  tell  us  that  never  were  the  relations  of  the  two 
countries  so  amicable  as  during  the  Republic.  '  But 
now,'  say  they,  '  what  will  Cobden  say,  now  Louis 
Napoleon  will  make  an  attack  on  us  to  avenge  his 
uncle's  defeat  at  Waterloo  ?  '  I  say  again,  France 
will  not  attack  us,  if  we  let  her  alone.  So  far  from 
the  late  election  4of  Louis  Napoleon  being  a  warlike 
demonstration  on  the  part  of  the  French  people — it 
exhibits  them,  in  my  opinion,  in  the  very  opposite  and 
degrading  attitude  of  giving  up  every  right  and  privilege 
of  free  citizens  to  the  President,  on  condition  that  he 
protects  them  from  disorder  and  leaves  them  in  peace 
and  quietness  to  follow  their  avocations.  It  is  this 
feeling  which  prompts  M.  Sallandrouze  and  the 
industrials  of  Paris  to  offer  their  felicitations  to  the 
usurping  President,  and  this  is  the  cause  of  the  rentes 
rising  1 5  per  cent.  But  the  prospect  of  a  war  with 
England  would  convulse  their  industry,  increase  their 
taxes,  and  diminish  their  income,  whilst  the  rentes  would 
fall  to  50.  Would  this  rally  the  taxpayers,  the  fund- 
holders,  the  industrials,  or  any  other  class  round  the 
President  ? 

"  These  shallow  and  foolish  people  who  talk  so  glibly 
about  the  French  going  to  war  with  England  and 
making  a  descent  on  our  shores,  seem  to  have  no  idea 
that  France  is  second  only  to  ourselves  in  the  extent  of 
her  manufacturing  operations  and  her  foreign  commerce. 

84 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

There  is  no  country,  excepting  England,  so  dependent 
for  the  employment  of  its  people  upon  foreign  com- 
merce, and  the  supply  of  raw  materials  from  abroad, 
which  would  be  interrupted  if  not  wholly  destroyed  by 
a  war  with  England,  to  the  destruction  of  the  industry 
of  millions  of  her  population.  Yet  these  silly  people 
who  prate  about  France  making  a  buccaneering  descent 
upon  our  shores  seem  to  think  that  she  has  no  more 
interest  in  preserving  peace  than  had  the  ancient  North- 
men of  the  sixth  century.  I  wonder  if  they  trouble 
themselves  to  take  a  peep  at  the  French  manufactures 
in  the  Exhibition. 

"  By  the  way,  into  what  inconsistencies  do  these 
alarmists  stumble.  When  we  advocated  an  international 
reduction  of  armaments,  we  were  told  that  the  armies 
of  the  Continent  were  not  kept  up  by  the  Governments 
for  offensive  or  defensive  operations  against  their 
neighbours,  but  to  repress  their  own  subjects.  But 
now,  when  half  the  Continent  is  in  a  state  of  siege, 
we  are  told  we  must  prepare  against  an  attack  from 
these  same  Powers.  Again,  we  were  met  with  the 
argument  that  large  standing  armies  are  favourable  to 
the  preservation  of  peace — that  '  to  maintain  peace  we 
must  be  prepared  for  war.'  But  now  we  are  told 
that  Louis  Napoleon  must  go  to  war  in  order  to  find 
employment  for  his  troops.  I  should  not  be  surprised 
at  any  folly  that  may  be  committed  by  the  old  Duke 
and  our  weak  Government.  They  talk  of  a  circle  of 
fortifications  round  London.  And  at  the  same  time 
we  have  a  large  squadron  lying  in  the  Tagus,  and  line- 
of-battle  ships  enough  lying  useless  on  distant  stations 
to  form  a  continuous  line  within  hailing  distance  from 
Plymouth  to  the  Thames.  The  Americans  have  not 
one  line-of-battle  ship  in  commission.  There  is  no 
cure    for    all   this    waste    and   folly    but    in    the    galling 

85 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

load  of  taxation  which  it  entails  upon  us.  And  you 
are  doing  wisely  in  keeping  public  opinion  alive  to 
the  cost  and  iniquitous  character  of  the  Kaffir  War. 
Time  must  work  its  cure. 

"  I  really  hardly  know  how  to  recommend  you  to  take 
any  course  of  action  upon  the  peace  question  generally, 
with  a  view  to  the  general  election,  in  the  present 
confused  state  of  the  public  mind.  But  let  a  peaceful 
issue  result  from  the  present  French  Revolution,  or 
rather  usurpation,  and  then  we  shall  have  the  alarmists 
once  more  on  the  hip,  and  I  hope  they  will  be  dis- 
credited with  the  public  generally  ;  although  I  must 
say  the  said  public  are  gluttons  in  gullibility.  My 
own  opinion  is  that  France  is  more  anxious  for  peace 
with  England,  than  we  are  for  peace  with  her.  Time 
will  show — I  can't  tell  you  whether  it  is  likely  we 
shall  have  another  election  this  year,  but  should  say 
it  is  very  probable." 

"  May  14,  1852. 

u  I  have  given  notice  of  a  motion  upon  the  subject 
of  the  annexation,  of  Pegue,  and  if  I  could  secure  a  day 
for  the  discussion  it  would  be  very  useful  and  im- 
portant. But  I  have  had  my  usual  bad  luck  at  a 
ballot  and  stand  third  on  the  notices  for  June  7th. 
Still  I  must  be  prepared  to  take  my  chance  ;  and  shall 
be  obliged  by  your  letting  me  have  all  the  facts  you 
collected  for  your  speeches  upon  the  Burmese  War, 
and  any  other  aid  in   your  power." 

"  August  10,  1852. 

11  There  is  little    doubt  but    you  are  right    as    to  the 

letter    about    our    bloody    work    at    Rangoon,    etc.  It 

is  upon  a  par  with   the  doings  of  our  forefathers  in  the 

East.      I  was   told   by   an   East   India    Director   that  the 

war    was    totally    unnecessary,    that   it   grew    out  of  the 

86 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

violence  of  the  naval  envoy  ;  that  if  a  civilian  had 
been  employed  hostilities  would  not  have  begun  at  all  ; 
and  that  Lord  Dalhousie  disapproved  of  the  conduct 
of  the  Admiral  in  seizing  the  ship-of-war.  But  nobody 
of  any  authority  will  publicly  disavow  the  acts  of  these 
fighting  men.  Esprit  de  corps,  the  spirit  of  nationality, 
and  the  great  social  sway  of  the  military  class,  all  tend 
to  sweep  us  more  and  more  into  the  martial  vortex. 
if  God  really  rules  this  earth  (as  I  solemnly  believe  He 
does)  upon  the  principle  of  a  self-acting  retributive 
justice,  then  British  doings  in  India  and  China  involve 
a  serious  reckoning  with  us  or  our  children.  And 
assuredly  the  day  of  reckoning  will  come." 

"  August  24,  1852. 

"In  a  weekly  overland  China  Mail  which  has  just 
reached  me  I  find  an  allusion  made  in  a  leading  article 
to  another  article  in  the  Bengal  Hurkarn  (which, 
however,  does  not  appear  in  the  columns  of  the  China 
Mail)  exposing  the  pompous  pretensions  of  our  fight- 
ing men  in  Burma.  In  fact,  the  bulletins  of  General 
Godwin  in  last  Saturday's  Times  are  worthy  of  Bombasto 
Furioso  himself  when  one  compares  the  talk  and  the 
results.  It  is  quite  clear  that  our  so-called  battles  with 
these  people  are  nothing  but  battues.  They  have  no 
more  chance  against  our  64-pound  red-hot  shot  and 
other  infernal  improvements  in  the  art  of  war  than  they 
would  in  running  a  race  on  their  roads  against  out- 
railways.  War  has  become,  like  manufacturing  and 
industrial  rivalry,  very  much  a  competition  of  capital, 
skill  and  chemical  and  mechanical  discovery.  Don't 
forget  that  the  day  on  which  we  commenced  the  war 
with  a  bombardment  of  shot,  shells  and  rockets,  which 
made  an  eyewitness  remark  that  the  natives  must  have 
thought    it  an  onslaught  of   devils,  was  Easter  Sunday  ! 

87 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"  I  don't  know  whether  any  of  the  papers  notice  the 
fact  that  our  ships-of-war  being  sent  to  the  coast  of 
America  furnishes  the  greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
our  negotiations  with  the  Government  at  Washington. 
Amongst  the  vessels  sent  is  a  ship  of  the  line.  The 
Americans  have  not  one  line-of-battle  ship  afloat  in 
commission.  Here,  then,  one  would  say,  is  an  occasion 
for  profiting  by  our  superior  naval  force.  No,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  the  source  of  positive  weakness.  '  With- 
draw that  insulting  force,1  say  the  senators  and  the  news- 
papers of  the  United  States,  'or  we  will  not  negotiate 
with  you.'  And  so  much  do  we  feel  the  justice  of  this 
rebuke  that  we  are  hastily  yielding  the  whole  question 
at  issue.  Where,  then,  is  the  use  of  our  great  naval 
armaments?  When  the  Militia  Debate  was  proceeding, 
I  urged  the  propriety,  if  we  were  really  in  danger  of 
being  invaded,  of  bringing  our  large  vessels  into  the 
Channel.  '  If  you  do  that,'  said  Sir  J.  Baring,  '  it  will 
be  regarded  as  a  menace  by  France  !  '  What,  then,  are 
we  to  do  with  this  enormous  force,  maintained  at  so 
much  cost?  Where  shall  we  hide  it?  Or  is  it  to 
be  only  brought  into  play  against  a  weak  Power  such 
as  an  Egyptian  Pasha  or  a  King  of  Greece  ?  Alas, 
then  are  we  bullies  to  the  weak,  and  cowards  to  the 
powerful  !  " 

"September  8,  1852. 
"  I  think  your  article  in  the  Herald  of  Teace  upon 
the  Burmese  War  ought  to  be  reprinted  for  distribu- 
tion amongst  M.P.'s  and  influential  people.  I  would, 
however,  cut  out  all  extraneous  matter,  suppress  the 
animus  as  far  as  possible,  and  give  the  facts  as  you 
have  collected  them  from  the  Parliamentary  Paper.  It 
is  a  very  strong  case.  The  difficulty  is  to  get  any- 
body to  look  on   the  enemy's  side  of  the  question  when 

88 


Palmerstonian   Foreign  Policy 

the  fighting  has  begun  ;  and  then  there  is  always  the 
lurking  bribe  in  the  minds  of  all  that  the  game  of 
spoliation,  though  often  foully  played,  is  yet  profitable. 
I  often  wish  I  had  the  leisure  to  do  justice  to  the 
argument  which  is  always  uppermost  in  my  mind,  that 
the  modern  application  of  the  principles  of  political 
economy  has  destroyed  the  motive  of  self-interest  which 
formerly  tempted  us  to  wars  of  conquest.  I  could 
turn  the  batteries  against  the  L.  s.  d.  argument  most 
successfully." 

"  September  29,  1852. 

"  Somebody  has  sent  me  the  accompanying.  Is  it 
possible  that  Dr.  dimming  has  uttered  these  senti- 
ments in  the  pulpit?  When  he  talks  of  'beating  back 
from  his  country  the  oppressor  when  he  comes,'  he 
falls  into  the  common  fallacy  that  Wellington's  wars 
were  defensive.  In  my  opinion,  nothing  is  clearer  than 
that  the  whole  of  the  war  from  1793  to  18 15  was  of 
our  own  seeking,  that  it  was  in  fact  a  war  of  kings 
and  oligarchs  to  put  down  democratic  opinions.  But, 
whatever  may  have  been  its  origin,  certain  it  is  that 
after  the  Battle  of  Trafalgar,  when  Nelson  destroyed 
the  French  Navy,  we  were  as  safe  from  molestation 
from  Napoleon  as  if  we  had  been  in  another  planet. 
Yet  it  was  after  that  naval  victory  that  Wellington 
made  his  descent  on  the  shores  of  the  Peninsula,  and 
we  spent  from  that  time  four  to  five  hundred  millions 
on   continental   objects. 

*'  By  the  way,  I  wish  we  had  a  map,  on  Mercator's 
projection,  with  a  red  spot  printed  upon  those  places 
by  land  and  sea  where  we  have  fought  battles  since 
1688.  It  would  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  we  have 
(unlike  any  other  nation  under  the  sun)  been  fighting 
foreign   enemies  upon   every  part  of  the   earth's  surface 

89 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

excepting  our  own  territory — thus  showing  that  we 
have  been  the  most  warlike  and  aggressive  people  that 
ever  existed.  The  only  way  to  begin  to  turn  the 
tables  upon  such  people  as  the  enclosed  is  by  starting 
with  the  theory  that  the  English  nation  has  had  its 
energies  perverted  to  war  purposes  more  than  any 
other  peoples.  By  starting  from  the  time  of  our  great 
aristocratic  revolution,  it  will  by  and  by  be  seen  that 
the  aristocracy  has  converted  the  combativeness  of  the 
English  race  to  its  own  sinister  ends,  and  by  and  by 
peace  will  become  allied  to  the  course  of  democratic 
freedom.  The  history  of  England  must  be  rewritten 
— especially  the   history  of  the   last  century." 

"  October  4,  1852. 

"  We  shall  do  no  good  until  we  can  bring  home  to 
the  conviction  and  consciences  of  men  the  fact  that,  as  in 
the  slave-trade  we  had  surpassed  in  guilt  the  whole  world, 
so  in  foreign  wars  we  have  been  the  most  aggressive, 
quarrelsome,  warlike  and  bloody  nation  under  the  sun. 
If  the  people  can  in  justice  show  that  their  Government 
has  been  at  fault — that  their  native  energies  have  been 
perverted  to  bad  purposes  by  the  ruling  classes  for 
their  own  advantage — I  care  not.  But  the  fact  is 
there,  and  unless  repentance  and  amendment  follow  we 
shall,  as  a  nation,  be  no  exception  to  the  divine  law 
that  '  they  who  take  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword.' 

"  As  respects  the  origin  of  the  last  great  French 
War,  the  best  documents  to  read  are  those  published 
amongst  the  (  State  Papers'  in  the  Annual  Register  for 
1792-3.  The  'Pictorial  History  of  England,'  vol.  3, 
p.  273  and  following  pages  (although  the  work  is 
written  in  a  Tory  sense  at  that  time),  gives  you  a 
good  many  facts.  But  one  is  sufficient — we  withdrew 
our  Ambassador   from   Paris  in    August  1792,  the  French 

90 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

Minister  remained  here  till  January  follozving,  and  was 
then  driven  away  on  the  death  of"  the  French  King 
(we  having  set  the  example  of  king-killing  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before).  See  Sir  Jas.  Mackintosh's 
1  Vindicia?  Galica?,'  and  the  language  of  all  the  liberal 
politicians  of  the  day. 

"  October  12,  1852. 
"  I  saw  the  enclosed  and  took  a  note  of  it.  It  may 
or  may  not  mean  anything ;  but  of  one  thing  I  am 
assured,  that,  if  the  European  Governments  were  to 
meet  together  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  a  re- 
duction of  armaments,  there  is  not  one  which  would 
enter  upon  such  a  movement  with  less  earnestness  or 
sincerity  than  our  own.  You  may  make  what  use 
you  please  of  my  communication  about  the  opposition 
to  the  Anti  Corn-Law  League  tracts.  Buckingham- 
shire is  a  bad  county  in  which  to  have  a  trial — but  you 
should  see  that  the  bill-sticker  be  well  defended. 
Much  depends  upon  the  talent  of  the  Counsel  employed 
in  such  a  case.  I  confess  I  am  astonished  at  the  im- 
pudence of  the  Government  in  entering  upon  such  a 
crusade.  Are  there  not  instances  of  similar  handbills 
having  been  put  forth  long  ago,  in  opposition  to  re- 
cruiting tor  the  Regular  Army  r  I  would  advise  you 
to  get  the  advice  of  the  longest-headed  and  soundest- 
hearted  lawyer  you  can  find.  If  we  can  foil  them  com- 
pletely in  this  attempt,  good  will  come  out  of  it  ;  but 
on  the  other  hand,  if  beaten,  there  will  be  found,  I 
fear,  some  snobs  even  in  our  ranks  who  will  say, 
1  I  told  you  so.'  If  properly  managed,  I  cannot  see 
that  anything  but  good  can  come  out  of  it." 

"Housk  of  Commons  (undated),  1852. 
"  I  read   carefully  through  the  first   of  the  Parliamen- 
tary Papers  on  the  Burmese  War.     I  was  amazed  at  the 

91 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

case  ;  I  blushed  for  my  country,  and  the  very  blood  in 
my  veins  tingled  with  indignation  at  the  wanton  disregard 
of  all  justice  and  decency  which  our  proceedings 
towards  that  weak  country  exhibited.  The  violence 
and  wrongs  perpetrated  by  Pizarro  or  Cortes  were 
scarcely  veiled  in  a  more  transparent  pretence  of  right 
than  our  own  report  of  the  outrage  at  Rangoon  throws 
about  those  disgraceful  transactions.  I  will  certainly 
bring  out  the  real  merits  of  the  case.  I  stand  third 
for  a  chance  of  making  a  motion  on  this  subject  on 
the  7th.  The  other  motions  may  be  short,  and  I 
shall  try  to  come  on  ;  but  if  not,  I  will  take  a  Supply 
night  rather  than  be  deprived  of  an  opportunity  of 
exhibiting  the  matter  in  its  true  light.  Last  Tuesday 
I  tried  my  chance  in  a  ballot  for  my  disarmament 
motion,  but  with  my  usual  bad  luck.  Yesterday,  when 
another  ballot  took  place,  I  abstained  for  this  reason. 

"There  is  a  great  feeling  of  anxiety  about  the  state 
of  matters  at  Constantinople.  Very  well-informed  men 
express  their  belief  that  the  Russians  are  there  now. 
A  most  uneasy  state  of  mind  prevails  everywhere, 
and  mixed  up  with  the  Turkish  question  is  the 
report  that  France  will  indemnify  herself  for  Russian 
conquests  in  the  East  by  seizing  upon  Belgium.  I 
hope  there  is  no  truth  in  any  of  these  warlike 
rumours.  But  the  question  is  occupying  all  minds, 
and  the  Cabinet  is  divided  as  to  the  policy  of  our 
intervening  in  the  strife.  A  few  days  will  decide,  and 
in  the  meantime  I  would  not  give  any  notice  of 
my  disarmament  motion  ;  because,  if  it  were  met  with 
a  continental  explosion,  it  would  be  alleged  against 
me  as  a  proof  of  want  of  practical  foresight  and 
sagacity.  In  the  meantime  we  may  be  required  to 
put  forth  all  our  energies  to  prevent  our  being  mixed 
up    in    a    continental    war.     Six    months'    experience    of 

92 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

what  a  war  in  1853  is  would,  I  know,  bring  John  Buli 
to  such  a  state  of  mind  as  to  induce  him  to  sneak 
out  of  the  fray  in  the  most  ignominious  manner.  But 
we  must  endeavour  to  open  the  eyes  of  Manchester, 
Liverpool  and  Glasgow  to  a  sense  of  what  would  be 
the  consequence  of  a  rupture  of  peace  with  the  Continent 
before  such  an  event  takes  place.  I  could  do  it  in 
half  an  hour,  if  the  public  mind  were  in  the  full 
prospect  of  a  war.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  turns  out 
that  France  and  England  have  co-operated  to  prevent 
Russia  from  invading  Turkey,  what  a  ridiculous  position 
it  will  place  those  in  who  are  now  drilling  the  Militia 
and  fortifying  our  coasts  against  a  French  invasion ! 
Whatever  course  events  may  take,  the  Peace  Party  is 
sure  in  the  end  to  gain  by  it.  Being  the  only  true 
principle,  it  cannot  fail  to  reap  advantage  even  from 
the  temporary   triumph  of  its  opponents." 


The  letters  of  1853  show  Cobden  engaged,  as  his 
main  purpose,  in  trying  "  to  beat  down  this  most 
wicked  spirit  towards  France."  To  this  end  he  com- 
posed and  published  early  in  January  a  long  pamphlet, 
"  1792  and  1853,  in  Three  Letters,"  the  method  and 
meaning  of  which  he  describes  fully  in  his  letter  of 
January  1st.  It  was  a  great  success  both  among  his 
private  friends  ("  What  a  glorious  pamphlet  you  have 
written  !  '  said  John  Bright)  and  with  a  large  and 
growing  public  increasingly  suspicious  of  the  Palmer- 
stonian alarms.  But  it  did  not  stay  the  panic,  and 
the  Peace  Party  found  their  propaganda  impeded  and 
discountenanced  by  many  whom  they  trusted  to  assist 
them.  The  majority  of  the  influential  supporters  of 
the  League  and  its  Free  Trade  policy  refused  to  see 
the    essential    connection    between     Free    Trade    and   a 

93 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

pacific  foreign  and  imperial  policy,  or  to  recognize 
how  absolutely  the  cause  of  sound  and  commercial 
national  finance  was  bound  up  with  the  control  of 
armaments.  In  one  of  his  most  interesting  letters 
Cobden  deplores  and  comments  on  this  failure  of 
Leaguers  and  Liberals  in  general  to  seize  the  logical 
and  practical  interdependence  of  the  central  principles 
of  his  political  creed,  with  non-intervention  as  its 
foundation  stone.  This  letter  may  usefully  be  supple- 
mented by  the  following  passages  from  a  letter  of 
September    19th,   addressed    to    Mr.    McLaren.1 

"  In  this  Peace  Conference  movement,  we  have  not 
the  same  clear  and  definable  principle  on  which  to 
take  our  stand  that  we  had  in  our  League  agitation. 
There  are  in  our  ranks  those  who  oppose  all  war, 
even  in  self-defence  ;  those  who  do  not  go  quite 
so  far,  and  yet  oppose  wars  on  religious  grounds  in 
all  cases  but  that  of  self-defence  ;  and  there  are  those 
who  for  politico-economical  and  financial  considerations 
are  not  only  the  advocates  of  peace,  but  also  of  a 
diminution  of  our  costly  peace  establishments.  Among 
the  latter  class  I  confess  I  rank  myself.  .  .  .  We 
cannot  disguise  from  ourselves  that  the  military  spirit 
pervades  the  higher  and  more  influential  classes  of 
this  country  ;  and  that  the  Court,  aristocracy  and  all 
that  is  apeing  the  tone  of  the  latter  believe  that  their 
interests,  privileges,  and  even  their  very  security  are 
bound  up  in  the  maintenance  of  the  '  Horse  Guards.' 
Hence  the  very  unfashionable  character  of  our  move- 
ment, and  hence  the  difficulty  of  inducing  influential 
persons  to  attend  our  meetings.  ...  If  we  add  that 
the  character  of  the  English  people  is  arrogant,  dicta- 
torial and  encroaching  towards  foreigners,  that  we 
are    always    disposed    to   believe    that   other   nations   are 

1  "Life,"  ii.  p.  144. 

94 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

preparing  to  attack  England,  it  must  be  apparent  that 
in  seeking  to  diminish  our  warlike  establishments,  we 
have  to  encounter  as  tough  an  opposition  as  we  had 
in  our  attack  on  the  corn  monopoly,  whilst  we  look 
in  vain  for  that  powerful  nucleus  of  support  which 
gave  us  hope  in  the  latter  struggle  of  an  eventual 
triumph." 

But  while  the  panic  regarding  the  aggressive  designs 
of  Louis  Napoleon  occupied  the  foreground  of  his 
mind  and  political  energies,  almost  absorbing  the 
interest  of  the  Peace  Conferences  at  Manchester  in 
January  and  at  Edinburgh  in  August,  Cobden  found 
time  to  compile  a  powerful  exposure  of  the  origins 
or  the  Burmese  War  and  the  damaging  reactions  of 
the  policy  to  which  it  belonged  upon  the  security  and 
finance  of  India.  Letters  relating  to  the  abominable 
conduct  imputed  to  an  American  missionary,  named 
Kincaid,  show  that  he  was  fully  alive  to  the  short- 
comings of  other   countries   than   his   own. 

Though  as  early  as  May  1853  Cobden,  writing  to 
his  brother,  noted  a  growing  uneasiness  in  the  Cabinet 
about  Turkish  affairs  (his  letter  of  September  13th 
to  Mr.  Richard  indicates  the  nature  of  the  trouble), 
there  is  nothing  to  indicate  the  swift  change  in  the 
political  sky  which  was  to  bring  war  against  Russia 
next   year,   with   our   hereditary   enemy   for   an   ally. 


"January  1,  1853. 
"  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  by  your  letter  and  the 
contents,  and  the  volume  of  Mackintosh.  I  have  got 
so  far  as  to  be  certain,  at  all  events,  of  publishing 
something  ;  but  I  wish  I  had  had  more  time.  My 
plan    is    this  :      I   begin    with  a    letter  purporting  to   be 

95 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

addressed  to  a  reverend  friend  thanking  him  for  a  copy 
of  a  sermon  preached  by  him  on  the  death  of  Wellington. 
The  sermon  professes,  of  course,  hostility  to  all  but 
defensive  war,  but  considers  the  war  with  the  French 
to  have  been  won,  and  that  the  Duke  was  an  instru- 
ment of  Providence  raised  up  for  our  defence.  I  join 
issue  upon  the  latter,  and  without  disparaging  the 
Duke  (but  the  contrary),  I  maintain  that  the  war  in 
which  he  was  engaged  was  provoked  by  us,  and  that 
the  French  all  but  went  down  on  their  knees  to  escape 
it.  In  my  first  letter  I  give  some  general  broad  facts 
in  support  of  this,  but  without  going  much  into  details. 
In  my  second  letter  I  begin  by  purporting  to  answer 
a  letter  from  my  reverend  friend,  who  wishes  me  to 
direct  him  to  the  best  sources  of  information  upon 
the  origin  of  the  war,  and  I,  in  reply,  offer  to  give 
him  the  facts,  and  this  will  be  a  long  letter  with  a 
good  many  quotations,  particularly  from  the  speeches 
in  Hansard,  and  I  can  most  completely  show  that  the 
war  was  not  only  provoked  by  us,  but  was  in  its  object 
the  worst  of  all  wars,  because  it  was  to  put  down 
opinions  by  force.  I  will  prove  this  from  the  admissions 
and  avowals  of  those  who  would  wish  to  give  a 
different  character  to  it.  I  have  got  to  the  middle  ot 
the  second  letter  and  have  all  the  materials  at  hand  to 
finish  it.  In  the  third  letter  I  wish  to  make  applica- 
tion of  the  former  views  to  the  present  state  of  things, 
and  here  I  am  rather  at  a  loss  for  materials.  I  should 
like  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of  turning  over  all 
the  pamphlets  and  volumes  brought  out  during  the 
last  few  years  about  the  invasion.  Some  extracts  would 
be  nice  tit-bits  to  quote.  Here  you  may  be  of  service 
to  me,  and  I  should  be  very  much  obliged  if  you 
will  hunt  up  some  of  these  productions,  and  give 
me   at    least    the  '  titles   of    as    many    as    possible,    and 

96 


Palmerstonian   Foreign  Policy 

some  extracts  if*  you  can.  When  I  was  last  at  the 
Reform  Club,  I  saw  a  little  heap  of  these  warlike 
manifestos  lying  on  the  table  of  the  library.  If  you 
will  inquire  for  the  librarian,  who  would  feel  a 
pleasure,  I  think,  in  accommodating  me,  he  would 
allow  you  to  see  these  pamphlets  in  his  own  private 
room — i.e.  provided  you  have  no  other  way  of  getting 
at  them  in  a  lump.  There  is  one  work  that  you  must 
send  me — the  reprints  of  the  letters  of  an  '  English- 
man '  in  The  Times \  who  would  set  us  in  a  blaze  again. 
He  must  be  some  Brummagem  Burke.  I  don't  know 
where  I  can  get  any  statistics  showing  the  increase  of 
the  manufactures  and  imports  of  raw  materials  into 
France  now  as  compared  with  1793.  The  statistics  of 
those  days  are  very  obscure  and  not  to  be  relied  on." 

"January  25,  1853. 
"It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  come  down  before  this 
evening.  I  shall  see  you  to-morrow  soon  after  receipt 
of  this.  My  three  letters  are  now  being  printed,  and 
Ridgway  hopes  to  send  500  by  to-night's  mail-train. 
The  pamphlet  runs  to  130  pages  or  more,  and  he  says 
it  must  be  sold  for  2s.  or  it  will  not  pay  expense,  but 
the  500  for  the  members  of  the  Peace  Congress  may, 
he  says,  be  sold  at  is.  without  interfering  with  his 
sale.  I  was  very  anxious  it  should  have  been  a  shilling 
pamphlet,  for  really  beyond  that  price  nothing  sells 
very  extensively.  However,  when  you  see  it,  if  you 
think  it  desirable,  something  may  be  done  to  give  a 
cheap  edition  (leaving  you  to  cut  it  down  if  you  like) 
for  the  people.  For,  after  all,  our  business  must  be 
with  the  masses — keep  them  right,  and  we  can't  go 
wrong.  I  am  glad  that  you  have  put  a  notice  on  the 
paper  for  a  discussion  of  our  present  relations  with 
France.     It  seems  to  me  that  our    whole    practical    end 

97  & 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

for  this  meeting  should  be  to  beat  down  this  most 
wicked  spirit  towards  France  ;  and  the  only  way, 
depend  on  it,  is  the  course  I  have  taken  in  my  pamphlet, 
where  I  give  the  statistics  of  the  imports  and  exports 
of  France,  and  especially  a  detailed  comparison  of  the 
imports  of  all  the  great  items  of  raw  materials  for  1792 
and  1853  (furnished  me  by  Michel  Chevalier  from 
official  sources)  to  show  by  comparison  what  wonder- 
ful progress  France  has  made  as  a  manufacturing  people. 
And  then  I  have  taken  the  bull  by  the  horns  by  telling 
the  people  plump  that  the  eight  millions  of  landed 
proprietors  of  France  do  not  envy  us,  and  that  they 
would  be  horror-stricken  at  the  proposal  to  change 
places  with  our  population  !  This,  with  a  most  con- 
clusive proof  that  the  last  French  War  was  got  up 
by  our  aristocracy,  is  what  I  have  brought  out,  and 
what  we  must  show  to  the  whole  people  if  we  would  keep 
their  hands  from  '  cold  iron '  again.  A  real  expose  of 
the  comparative  economical  status  of  the  two  peoples 
would  make  ours  discontented  with  their  lot.  So  much 
the  better.  It  will  teach  them  to  employ  their  energies 
at  home,  and  not  be  carried  after  every  red-herring  that 
designing  knaves  (for  there  is  more  knavery  than 
folly  at  the  bottom  of  it)  draw  across  their  path." 

"March*,  1853. 
The  enclosed  tracts  are  very  good.  I  have  made 
a  few  verbal  alterations  and  additions.  I  send  you 
the  Indian  statistics  you  require  for  the  latest  time 
for  which  it  is  before  the  Committee.  More  than 
half  the  expenditure,  including  interest  of  debt,  goes 
for  the  fighting  establishments.  Yet  a  friend  of  mine 
told  me  the  other  day  that  Lord  Hardinge,  who  sat 
beside  him  at  a  dinner-party,  remarked  that  we  have 
not  three  hundred  and  fiftv  miles  of  vulnerable  frontier 

98 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

to  guard — thus  implying  that  the  army  is  kept  up  to 
keep  down  the  population.  You  may  use  the  facts 
but  not  the  name.  Take  care  of  the  money. 
Manchester  has  been  used  to  spending  great  sums, 
and  some  of  your  friends  may  forget  that  you  have 
not  got  the  funds  of  the  League.  I  have  seen 
Chevalier  Bunsen,  who  has  no  objection  to  be  named 
as  the  person  to  appoint  the  adjudicators,  provided  he 
finds  nothing  in  the  wording  of  the  advertisements 
of  the  prize  which  he  objects  to.  We  must  draw  up 
the  terms  of  the  advertisement.  I  consider  that  the 
announcement  of  the  prize  in  different  publications  on 
the  Continent  will  be  the  best  mode  in  our  power  of 
agitating  the  European  mind  upon  our  plans  and  of 
making  known  our  organization. 

"  I  was  talking  to  Bunsen  about  arbitration  clauses 
in  international  treaties,  upon  which  he  seems  to  take 
a  good  deal  of  interest  ;  and  he  appeared  to  think 
that  it  was  a  step  forward  in  the  work  of  diplomacy 
which  ought  to  be  generally  advocated.  There  is,  I 
think,  at  present  one,  if  not  two  treaties  being  arranged 
between  the  United  States  and  this  country.  It  occurs 
to  me  that  it  would  be  well  to  see  to  this,  and  to 
probably  apply  to  Lord  Aberdeen  in  favour  of  insert- 
ing an  arbitration  clause,  and  to  set  our  Peace  friends 
in  America  to  work  to  enforce  the  same  views 
upon  their  Government. 

"P.S, — The  whole  revenue  of'India  in  I  850  amounted  to  £20,275,000. 
The  Army  cost  in  1850   ...  £10,098,000 
The  Navy    ,,  „         ...  384,000 

£10,482,000 

Europeans  in  India. 

30,000  Queen's  troops. 

20,000  Company's  European  troops. 

7,000  or  8,000  Civil  employee*  yf  the  Company. 

99 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"  Number  of  Europeans  residing  in  British  India  who  are  not  in 
the  service  of  the  f)ucen  or  Company — 10,006,  male  and  female. 
Only  317  Europeans  reside  in  the  interior  of  British  India,  engaged 
in  agriculture  or    manufactures." 

"May  7,  1853. 
"  Did  you  send  Lord  C.  the  American  report  ?  It 
has  occurred  to  me  to  write  to  him,  under  the  plea  of 
wishing  him  to  return  it  after  perusal,  but  really  with 
a  view  of  letting  him  know  that  I  was  quite  dis- 
appointed at  finding  that  he  had  the  least  hesitation 
about  meeting  the  Americans  upon  the  footing  of  an 
arbitration  clause.  Really  these  Whigs  and  all  that 
belong  to  them  are  an  effete,  worn-out  set.  They  seem 
to  have  fallen  into  such  a  decay  that  no  new  ideas  can 
be  grafted  upon  them.  It  would  have  been  an  infinitely 
more  satisfactory  matter  to  have  called  upon  the  old 
colleague  of  Castlereagh,  as  we  did  upon  the  reduction 
of  armaments  question.  As  for  Lord  Clarendon,  he 
has  a  great  name  with  the  public  as  a  safe  and  discreet 
man.  I  fear  he  will  never  have  boldness  or  originality 
enough  to  travel  beyond  the  merest  routine  of  the 
Foreign  Office." 

"dugusl  20,  1853. 

"  I  have  written  to  Dr.  Bailey,  of  the  Washington 
Era,  pointing  out  to  him  explicitly  the  very  heinous 
conduct  of  the  American  missionary,  and  begging  him 
to  draw  public  attention  to  it.  I  have  told  him  to 
show  my  letter  privately  to  anybody  connected  with 
the  Church  of  which  Kincaid  is  the  missionary.  And 
I  have  also  sent  a  message  to  General  Cass,  saying 
that  whilst  I  thank  him  for  rebuking  us  for  our 
wicked  misdeeds  in  Burma,  I  will  thank  him  in  future 
to  give  an  eye  to  the  meddling  American  missionaries 
who   incite    our    military  men   to   war.     Can't    you  get 

100 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

a    formal    address     from     your     Peace    Society     to     the 
religious  body  of  which   Kincaid  is  a  member  calling  on 
them  to  disavow   his  conduct  ?     The  fact  is,  it   is  high 
time    to    put    down    the   arrogant    assumption    of   these 
people.      Instead  of  the  messengers  of  peace,  clothed   in 
the    meek    garb    of    Him    they    pretend  to    serve,  they 
are    firebrands    ready   to    set    the    world    in    a    blaze    to 
revenge    the    slightest    affront    to    their    dignity.      I    re- 
member being  shocked,  in  a  conversation  with  GutzlafF, 
who  spent  an   evening  at   my  house  on   his  last   visit  to 
England,    to    hear    him   advocating    a  hostile  expedition 
to    Japan,     and     I    could     not    help     detecting    that     at 
the    bottom    of   his    resentment    towards    the    people    of 
that    country  was   the    remembrance  of   some    slight    he 
had  suffered  at  their  hands.     There  has  been  a  similar 
display  amongst    the  missionaries  in    West    Africa.      Do 
you  remember  the  circumstance  of  one  of  these  modern 
Hildebrands    boasting  that    he  was    busily  employed    in 
casting  bullets  in   a   mould    for  shooting    the   Ashantees 
who    besieged    the   town  in   which    he  was    resident  ?     I 
send   you    back    the    extracts    from    the    papers.     There 
was  a  good  article  in  the    Preston    Guardian.      What    a 
telling  and   stinging  article   it  is  from  the  Northampton 
Mercury  !      What  can  be  done  to  bring  an  Envoy  over 
here    before    next    session    from    the    Burmese    Govern- 
ment ?     Now  that   Lord   Dalhousie   has,   oddly   enough, 
declared  that  we  are  at    peace   with    Burma  (though   its 
Government  has  never  agreed  to  recognize  our  right   to 
the  territory  we  have  seized),   it  is  no  longer  an  act  of 
treason     to    hold    communication    with     that     Court.     I 
should  exceedingly  like  to  be  able  to   prompt    them  to 
send  over  an   Envoy,  to  be  here  when   I   bring  forward 
the  question   in  the    House ;    but    I   do   not   know   how 
it    is    to    be    done,    and    it   could    not    be   done   by    me. 
Sturge    is    capable    of   accomplishing    anything.      I    wish 

IOI 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

he  could  take  this  bit  of  diplomacy  in  hand.  Lord 
Dalhousie  &  Co.  would  be  terribly  alarmed  if  the 
Burmese  Government  would  send  over  an  Ambassador 
to  this  country." 

"September  13,  1853. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  satisfied  with  the 
preparation  making  for  the  Edinburgh  Conference.  It 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  it  should  be  a  success- 
ful demonstration,  and  to  this  end  we  must  look  to 
English  aid,  for  Scotland  is  not  a  good  field  of 
operations.  Very  few  influential  people  are  with  us  in 
that  part  of  the  kingdom.  As  respects  the  Burmese 
question,  everything  possible  has  been  done  from  this 
side  of  the  globe  to  bring  a  mission  from  Ava  next 
spring.  Nobody  knows  but  Sturge,  yourself,  Bright, 
Dickinson,  and  myself.  You  must  make  Dickinson's 
acquaintance.  He  is  the  Hon.  Sec.  to  the  Indian 
Reform  Association,  a  single-minded  devotee  who 
labours  like  a  galley-slave  from  the  purest  impulse  of 
benevolence.  He  is  the  son  of  Dickinson  the  eminent 
paper  manufacturer  of  Herts.  He  wrote  to  you  at  my 
suggestion — for  I  thought  you  could  furnish  him  with 
some  extracts  from  newspapers  approving  my  Burmese 
pamphlet,  which  he  might  send  out  to  India  as  argu- 
ments to  induce  the  Government  at  Ava  to  make  an 
appeal  to  the  public  opinion  of  England.  It  is  through 
Dickinson  that  the  communication  has  been  made  to 
India  with  a  view  to  its  being  forwarded  to  Ava.  He 
is  to  be  met  with  at  the  India  Reform  Society  Committee 
Room,    12    Hay  market. 

"  As  respects  the  present  state  of  Turkey,  several 
works  have  been  published  lately.  '  The  Turks  in 
Europe/  by  Bayle  St.  John,  seems  to  be  written 
expressly  to  prove  the  case  of  the  Mussulman   hopeless. 

102 


Palmerstonian   Foreign  Policy 

There  are  several  of  these  'St.  Johns'  at  work  in  the 
interest  of  the  Greeks  in  Turkey.  A  newspaper  is 
published  at  10  Leadenhall  Street  called  the  Eastern 
Star — which  I  suppose  must  be  subsidized  by  Greeks, 
many  of  whom  in  England  are  very  rich,  and  have  a 
good  deal  of  national  public  spirit.  I  exchanged  a 
couple  of  short  notes  with  a  Mr.  Percy  B.  St.  John, 
who  has,  I  believe,  published  them  in  the  last  Eastern 
Star.  These  people  are,  I  suspect,  not  at  all  of  out- 
way  of  thinking  on  this  or  other  matters.  They  do 
not  look  at  it  as  a  question  of  principle,  but  would,  I 
suspect,  be  glad  to  induce  our  Government  to  inter- 
fere to  set  up  Greeks  and  put  down  Turks.  Then 
they  are,  I  believe,  great  partisans  of  Rajah  Brooke. 
Greville  Brooke  of  the  Sunday  Times  is  a  St.  John, 
and  I  rather  [think]  the  father  of  the  others.  How- 
ever, it  is  well  to  know  'who  is  who.'  There  is  a 
work  lately  published  (reviewed  a  fortnight  ago  in  the 
Athetheu-iri)  by  Eyre  Evans  Crowe,  upon  the  Turkish 
question,   in    which    the   Turks    are    given    over    to    the 

I) 1    in   the  most  summary   way,   and  their  territory 

disposed  of  in  the  same  offhand  way.  Crowe  was 
formerly  editor  of  the  Daily  News.  Then  there  is  a 
new  edition  of  Spencer's  travels  in  Turkey  advertised. 
He  also  goes  against  the  Turks.  In  fact,  there  is  not 
a  man  of  the  least  sagacity  who  has  been  in  the  country 
who  does  not  see  that  the  Mahometans  cannot  be 
maintained  in  Europe  as  a  governing  class  in  a  territory 
the  great  majority  of  whose  population  are  Christians. 
All  that  you  hear  about  reforms  of  the  Turkish 
administration  is  mere  fudge.  Corruption  and  im- 
morality reign  supreme  in  every  department  of  the 
State.  You  may  bribe  everybody  with  the  exception  of 
the  Sultan  ;  and  he  is  systematically  bought  through 
his  women  and  eunuchs.      In  all  probability  the  present 

103 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

hitch    in    the    negotiations    at    Constantinople    has    been 
planned  and  paid  for  by  Russian  agents,  who  have  very 
likely   a   majority   of  the  Divan   in   their   pay.     On   the 
other    hand,    the    Austrian     Government    is    alarmed    at 
the   idea  of  a  rupture,   fearing  that  it   might   lead  to  a 
break  up  in  Hungary  and  Italy,  and  they  are  therefore 
exerting    their   influence   with    the    Turkish    Cabinet    to 
induce   them    to  accept   the   terms   of   the   Vienna  Con- 
ference   without     modification.     In    all     probability     the 
two  parties  are  bribing  against  each  other,  and  between 
the    two   the   patriotic    Turks   will    reap   a  rich   harvest. 
Then,  if  it  should  come  to  blows,  expect  to  see  Generals 
and   Admirals  going   over   bodily    to    the   enemy.      You 
will  remember  that  on  the  occasion  of  the  war  between 
Mahmoud    and     Mehemet    Ali,    the    latter    bought    the 
Turkish    Admiral,    who   carried    his   master's    fleet    into 
Alexandria.      It     is     merely     a     question     of     money. 
Patriotism  does  not  exist   in   Turkey.     There  is  fanati- 
cism  amongst    the   masses,    who,    there,    as    everywhere, 
are   in   earnest  ;   but   they  have  no  faith  in  their  leaders, 
and    the    latter    have    neither    faith    nor     hope     in     the 
future.     Now    not    only    is    all    this    known     to    every 
intelligent    traveller    in    Turkey — it   is   reported    to  our 
Government     by     its    diplomatic    and     consular    agents. 
One  of  the  members   of  the  Cabinet   told   me  that  the 
reports   they    got    from   the   interior    of   Turkey    corre- 
sponded with    what   I    stated    in    the   House.      And    yet 
Lord    Palmerston    had    the    impudence    to   get    up    and 
pledge  himself  to  the  fact  that  no  people  have  effected 
such    improvements    in     the    last   twenty    years    as    the 
Turks  !     And  our  Radicals  are  bellowing  for  Palmerston 
and   Turkish    independence.      Is    it    not   time   for   men  of 
common    sense    to    found    a    political    hospital    to    cure 
such  idiots  ?  " 


104 


Palmerstonian   Foreign   Policy 

"  October  17,  1853. 

|C  You    know   my    opinion    from    the    first — that    you 
ought    not    to    calculate    upon    the    old    Leaguers   trans- 
ferring their    Free  Trade  energies    to    the    Peace    cause. 
People  have  somehow  fallen   into  the  odd    notion    that, 
because  certain  men  have  achieved  a  certain  result,  ergo, 
they  are  the  people  to  accomplish  anything  that  remains 
to  be   done.      It  would    be   about   as    rational    to    argue 
that  the  tree  which  has  yielded    a  good   crop  of  oranges 
must   be    able    to   give    you   some    apples    also.      I    have 
never    varied    from  the    opinion,  ever   since  the  League 
was    dissolved,  that   the   same    men    who  took  the    lead 
in    that    body   would    never    form    the   most    prominent 
actors    in     any     other     out-of-doors     agitation.      I     was 
always  of  this  opinion,  even  when,  yielding  to  the  wish 
of   a   majority    of   my    old    colleagues,   I   joined    in    the 
formation   of  the   'Financial  and    Parliamentary  Reform 
Association,'       which     has     really     ended     in     nothing. 
Fresh  men  must   be  found   for  each   distinct   movement. 
I    therefore   am   not    surprised  that  you    find  yourself  a 
little  disappointed   in    the    help   you  have  received   from 
Newalls  Buildings.      I  know  of  nobody  in  their  party  who 
is  thoroughly  bitten  with  our  questions  (I  mean  amongst 
wealthy  men)  but  Thomasson  and  Whitehead.   .   .   . 

11 1  hope  you  find  a  sweet  odour  coming  up  after 
our  Conference.  We  seem  to  be  more  savagely  abused 
than  ever  by  the  London  Press,  but  perhaps  their 
anger  is  not  a  bad  sign.  What  would  we  have  given 
in  the  early  part  of  our  League  agitation  to  have  been 
so  much  noticed  !  I  hope  that  nothing  was  said  or 
done  at  the  Conference  calculated  to  weaken  the  Quaker 
zeal  in  our  movement.  If  so,  Sturge,  E.  Smith  and  the 
more  orthodox  of  the  leaders  must  set  to  work  to  solder 
the  crevices.      Wre  are  nothing  without  the  •  Friends.' 

105 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 

The  long  struggle  between  the  Palmerstonian  foreign 
policy  and  that  which  may  fairly  be  styled  the 
Manchester  policy  of  non-intervention  issued  in  the 
declaration  of  war  against  Russia  in  the  spring  of  1854, 
and  for  two  years  Cobden's  public  influence  and  re- 
putation suffered  eclipse.  Many  of  his  most  trusted 
political  friends,  even  among  the  free-traders  and 
certain  sections  of  the  pacifists,  fell  away,  yielding 
themselves  to  the  tide  of  war  fever  which  swept  the 
country  and  forced  Cobden  to  recognize  that  the  war 
was  not  attributable  mainly  to  the  machinations  of 
statesmen  but  in  its  outbreak  had  the  people  passionately 
with   it.     He  wrote  to   Mr.   Bright  (October    1854): 

"I  am  willing  to  incur  any  obloquy  in  telling  the 
whole  truth  to  the  public  as  to  the  share  they  have 
had  in  this  war,  and  it  is  better  to  face  any  neglect  or 
hostility  than  allow  them  to  persuade  themselves  that 
anybody  but  themselves  is  responsible  for  the  war." 

The  early  letters  to  Mr.  Richard  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned with  the  attitude  of  the  Peace  Party  in  the 
impending  crisis  when  the  nation  and  Parliament  were 
moving  towards  war.  Always  he  is  the  advocate  of 
tact  and  moderation,  recognizing  how  any  "  pacifist " 
indiscretion    or    excess    may    help    the    war-makers.     So 

106 


The  Crimean   War 

on  March  9th  he  fears  lest  meetings  may  convey  a 
wrong  impression  of  pro-Russianism.  He  is  himself 
no  more  pro-Russian  than  pro-Turk,  reverting  in  his 
letter  of  May  8th  to  the  views  of  Turkish  misgovern- 
ment  so  fully  exposed  in   his  early  pamphlets. 

His  later  letters  of  this  year  are  naturally  marked  by 
a  deep  depression.  With  Bright  he  was  the  chief  target 
of  popular  and  parliamentary  obloquy,  and  the  former 
stung  him  more  deeply  than  the  latter.  It  was  far 
easier  to  meet  the  gibes  and  taunts  of  Lord  Palmerston 
and  his  gentlemanly  following  than  to  be  burnt  in 
effigy  by  popular  gatherings  in  the  market-place  of 
great  commercial  towns  whose  interests  he  had  laboured 
so  assiduously  and  so  successfully  to  promote. 

Bowing  of  necessity  before  this  storm  of  public  re- 
probation, his  spirit  was  not  broken.  Admirable  is  that 
passage  in  which  his  biographer  records  the  courage  of 
the  victims  of  the  popular   madness. 

"  It  is  impossible  not  to  regard  the  attitude  of  the 
objects  of  this  vast  unpopularity  as  one  of  the  most 
truly  admirable  spectacles  of  our  political  history. 
The  moral  fortitude,  like  the  political  wisdom  of  these 
two  strong  men,  begins  to  stand  out  with  a  splendour 
that  already  recalls  two  great  historic  types  of  states- 
manship and  patriotism.  Even  now  our  heartfelt 
admiration  goes  out  to  them  as  it  goes  out  to  Burke 
for  his  lofty  and  manful  protests  against  the  war  with 
America  and  the  oppression  of  Ireland,  and  to  Charles 
Fox  for  his  bold  and  strenuous  resistance  to  the  war 
with  the  first  French  Republic.  They  had,  as  Lord 
Palmerston  said,  the  whole  world  against  them.  It 
was  not  merely  the  august  personages  of  the  Court, 
nor  the  illustrious  veterans  in  Government  and  diplo- 
macy, nor  the  most  experienced  politicians  in  Parliament, 
nor   the   powerful     journalists,    nor    the    men    versed    in 

107 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

great  affairs  of  business.  It  was  no  light  thing  even 
to  confront  that  solid  mass  of  hostile  judgment.  But 
besides  all  this,  Cobden  and  Mr.  Bright  knew,  that 
the  country  at  large,  even  their  trusty  middle  and 
industrious  classes,  had  turned  their  faces  resolutely 
and  angrily  from  them.  Their  own  great  instrument, 
the  public  meeting,  was  no  longer  theirs  to  wield.  The 
army  of  the  Nonconformists,  which  has  so  seldom 
been  found  fighting  on  the  wrong  side,  was  seriously 
divided.  The  Radicals  were  misled  by  their  recollec- 
tion of  Poland  and  Hungary  into  thinking  that  war 
against   Russia  must  be  war  for  freedom."  ' 

Part  of  this  popular  reprobation  was  doubtless  due 
to  a  mistaken  interpretation  of  the  non-intervention 
policy  and  an  association  of  Cobden  with  extreme  peace 
positions  which  were  not  really  his.  But  Cobden,  soon 
recognizing  that  reasoning  with  such  madness  was  of 
no  use,  saw  that  the  fever  must  run  its  course.  He 
rightly  perceived  that  the  military  and  financial  mis- 
conduct of  the  war  would  gradually  help  to  bring 
back  both  people  and  Parliament  to  their  senses.  But 
letters  of  this  period  show  that  he  overrated  the  pace 
of  this  disillusionment,  seeing  signs  of  extreme  war 
weariness  after  a  few  months  of  war. 

What  he  was  particularly  anxious  to  secure  was  the 
complete  discrediting  of  militarism  by,  a  failure  of  either 
side  to  secure  a  military  victory  with  the  glory  and  future 
perils  it  would  bring. 

Here  I  may  quote  a  passage  from  a  letter  (October  ist) 
to  John  Bright  : 

"  Let  John  Bull  have  a  great  military  triumph,  and  we 
shall  all  have  to  take  our  hats  off  as  we  pass  the  Horse 
Guards   for  the   rest  of  our  lives.     On   the  other   hand, 

»    "Life,"  ii.  p.  155. 
108 


The  Crimean  War 

let  the  Czar's  swollen  pride  be  gratified  and  inflamed 
with  victory,  it  will  foster  that  spirit  of  military  inso- 
lence which  pervades  everything  in  Russia.  But  if  neither 
could  claim  a  decisive  triumph,  and  both  were  thoroughly 
discouraged  and  disgusted  with  their  sacrifices,  they  might 
all  in  future  be  equally  disposed  to  be  more  peaceable."  l 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  1854  letters  to 
Mr.  Richard  is  that  of  December  9th,  discussing  the 
indiscreet  pugnacity  of  Mr.  Bright  in  handling  his  critics 
and  opponents.  Several  letters  allude  to  the  plans  for 
the  establishment  of  the  new  penny  paper,  The  Morning 
Star,  bv  friends  of  the  Peace  and  non-intervention  move- 
ment.  Mr.  Sturge  was  the  chief  promoter  and  subscriber. 
Cobden  himself  had  no  financial  interest  in  the  venture, 
though  he  and  Mr.  Bright  were  consulted  about  its 
policy,  and  it   had   his  warm  approval. 

"  March  9,  1854. 
"  As  respects  the  desire  of  some  of  our  friends  to  get 
up  meetings  in  favour  of  peace,  I  should  like  to  know 
what  course  they  recommend  to  be  taken  before  I  give  an 
opinion  of  the  project.  To  hold  a  meeting  now  merely 
to  enunciate  abstract  opinions  against  war  would  be 
simply  ridiculous.  If  we  deal  with  the  question,  it  must 
be  in  reference  to  existing  difficulties  and  dangers.  It 
would  in  fact  merely  amount  to  a  repetition  of  all  the 
arguments  pro  and  con  which  have  been  reiterated  a 
thousand  times  to  no  purpose.  And  to  be  honest,  we 
could  not  deal  fairly  with  the  matter  without  a  due 
measure  of  censure  on  the  Czar  which  would  be  only 
adding  fuel  to  fire  ;  for  [pace  Jos.  Sturge)  the  Russian 
Government  is  not  clean-handed,  and  latterly  there  have 
been  loopholes   opened   for    it .  by   which   it   might   have 

1  "Life,"  ii.  p.  164. 
109 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

escaped  from  war  which  have  been  insultingly  repelled. 
The  Czar  must,  I  think,  be  suffering  from  the  malady 
of  his  family.  Or  there  is  another  solution  of  his 
obstinacy — perhaps  he  is  assured  of  a  rising  of  the  whole 
of  the  Christian  population  of  Turkey.  If  some  such 
event  occurs,  it  will  vastly  complicate  the  business,  and 
add  to  the  difficulties  of  our  position.  Then  would  be 
the  time  for  the  Peace  Party  to  lift  its  head.  But  until 
some  new  phase  in  the  affair  presents  itself,  it  would, 
I  think,  be  not  only  useless  but  mischievous  to  the 
Peace  cause  to  attempt  to  hold  public  meetings.  We 
have  done  our  duty" 

"  June  8,  1854. 
"  1  duly  received  the  French  book  upon  Eastern  Affairs. 
It  is  perfectly  true  that  it  would  be  an  ungracious  task  to 
hunt  out  indictments  against  Turkey  at  this  moment 
when  the  Government  of  that  country  is  suffering  a  great 
wrong  from  a  ruffianly  neighbour,  if  one's  motives  were 
open  to  the  charge  of  trampling  on  the  weak.  But  we 
are  as  a  nation  apparently  committing  ourselves  to  the 
task  of  maintaining  now  and  for  all  time  the  indepen- 
dence and  integrity  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Now,  if  that 
Empire  contains  within  itself  the  seeds  of  decay,  we  may 
be  attempting  an  impossibility — nay,  we  may  be  fighting 
against  nature,  and  attempting  to  thwart  that  Provi- 
dential law  which  reproduces  something  different  out  of 
a  corrupt  nation  as  it  does  out  of  a  decayed  animal  or 
vegetable  substance.  Therefore  it  is  legitimately  our  duty 
before  undertaking  to  perpetuate  the  Turkish  Empire  to 
learn  what  its  actual  condition  is.  And  guarding  your- 
self most  emphatically  with  this  proviso-preliminary,  you 
could  not  do  a  better  service  than  to  gather  all  the  reli- 
able evidence  you  can  from  all  sources  as  to  the  state  of 
Turkey.     It  will  help  your  friends  in  Parliament,  for  the 

no 


The  Crimean   War 

only  chance  we  shall  have  of  a  hearing  will  be  on  the 
question  what  do  we  propose  to  do,  and  what  can  we  do  ? 
And  the  more  evidence  you  can  rummage  up  for  us  upon 
the  present  and  past  state  of  the  country  the  better. 

"  Observe  The  Times  article  of  yesterday  giving  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  that,  whilst  the  English  people  have  to 
be  kept  back  from  war  by  the  Government,  in  France 
Louis  Napoleon  has  to  justify  himself  to  the  French  at 
every  step  for  going  in  the  direction  of  war.  It  has 
always  been  so,  and  the  more  I  think  the  more  I  incline 
to  the  opinion  that  we  have  not  told  the  English  people 
half  plainly  enough  their  fault  in  this  respect.  Consider 
for  a  moment  where  should  we  have  been  if  The  Times 
had  sounded  the  signal  for  war  six  months  ago,  and 
thrown  its  talents  and  energies  into  the  scale  along  with 
the  Daily  News,  Herald,  etc.  ?  Why,  we  should  have 
been  in  the  bloodiest  campaign  by  land  and  sea  long-ago ! 
It  is  only  by  the  accident  that  The  Times  is  devoted  to 
Lord  x\berdeen's  Government,  probably,  that  it  is  not  so." 

"  September  8,  1854. 
41  I  am  up  to  my  chin  in  books,  pamphlets  and  papers 
— being  in  the  midst  of  the  dirty  and  tiresome  but  neces- 
sary task  of  unpacking  and  stowing  away  my  library. 
But  I  sometimes  think  of  you  and  your  poor  oppressed 
friends  of  the  Peace  Party  ;  and  as  we  are  brethren  in 
affliction  I  of  course  think  of  you  with  feelings  of  sym- 
pathy. What  are  you  doing,  and  what  can  be  done  ? 
Nothing,  I  suppose,  but  await  the  result  of  the  expedition 
to  the  Crimea  which  may  prove  a  worse  affair  than  even 
Varna,  although,  if  one  may  judge  of  what  the  Russians 
can  do  by  what  they  have  done  it  would  seem  not  to 
be  difficult  to  beat  them.  What  are  our  '  democrats '  now 
talking  about  ?  There  seems  to  be  a  commotion  in  their 
camp  judging  by  the  public  meetings  that  have  been  held. 

Ill 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

But  I  see  only  The  Times,  which  does  not  even  notice  the 
fact  of  such  meetings  having  been  held,  and  this  I  think 
is  a  betrayal  of  trust  as  caterers  of  news.  So  I  wrote 
to  Crawshay  at  Gateshead,  the  leader  of  the  rnad  people 
who  held  the  Newcastle  meeting.  He  is  a  Cambridge 
man  (I  mean,  educated  there),  and  was  one  of  my  most 
devoted  Free  Trade  allies ;  and  enclosed  I  send  his 
answer,  for  it  is  a  good  sample  of  the  incoherent  style 
of  reasoning  which  the  best  of  these  people  indulge  in. 
There  is  really  less  logic  in  this  so-called  Democratic  war 
party  than  in  the  cannon-balls  they  appeal  to  which  do 
answer  to  a  certain  mathematical  rule  in  their  courses. 
Yet  there  is  a  good-hearted  intention  about  these  people. 
Is  there  no  way  of  reaching  them  ?  " 

"  September  22,  1854. 
"  I  hear  occasionally  from  our  friend  Dornbusch,  but 
he  has  not  alluded  to  the  newspaper  project.  I  am 
decidedly  of  opinion  that  nothing  of  the  kind  will  answer 
our  purpose  until  we  can  get  rid  of  the  stamp.  It  must 
come  to  terms  of  peace  in  the  end,  but  I  really  don't 
know  how  we  can  contribute  to  the  putting  an  end  to  the 
war.  Nor  do  I  see  what  we  gain  unless  we  can  establish 
better  principles  than  those  which  guide  Government  and 
people  at  present.  If  we  are  to  assume  the  responsibility 
of  keeping  the  peace  and  '  doing  justice  '  to  the  whole 
world,  then  we  can  never  with  consistency  or  security 
reduce  our  military  establishments.  With  the  liability  at 
all  times  to  be  called  on  to  enter  into  armed  alliance  with 
the  '  weak  against  the  strong,'  and  recognizing  the  duty 
of  an  armed  intervention  in  every  European  struggle,  we 
should  be  illogical — nay,  mad,  not  to  be  at  all  times  pre- 
pared to  take  up  the  cudgels  in  support  of  our  principles. 
1  feel  that  we  have  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  party 
organization,   and   that   we    must    adopt   for  our   funda- 

112 


The  Crimean   War 

mental  rule  '  non-intervention  by  force  of  arms  in  the 
quarrels  of  the  Continent.'  To  do  this  we  throw  off  more 
than  half  of  those  (with  Baines  at  their  head)  who  have 
professed  most  noisily  to  be  with  us.  Are  there  ten  men 
in  the  House  or  one  hundred  and  twenty  outside  (except- 
ing the  Quakers)  who  are  to  be  relied  on  ?  What  do  you 
mean  by  the  'historical  facts  of  the  case'  not  being  known 
to  the  mass  of  the  people?  But  you  are  quite  right  in 
getting  health  in  Wales.  Nobody  has  a  tougher  task 
before  him,  and  you  will  want  all  the  strength  the  moun- 
tain air  can  give  you." 

"  October  16,  1854. 
"  Have  you  any  news  ?  Has  the  madness  of  the  public 
shown  any  symptoms  of  mitigation  ?  Or  is  the  patient 
suffering  as  much  as  ever  from  the  war  mania  ?  I  can 
forgive  everybody  but  Baines,  '  the  Patriot,'  and  the 
so-called  '  Saint '  party.  They  are  doing  their  best  to 
drag  Christianity  itself  through  the  blood  and  mire  of 
the  field  of  Alma.  Scenes  have  evidently  been  enacted 
there  after  the  battle  which  our  most  criminal  population 
of  the  metropolis  itself  would  have  shuddered  to  take 
a  part  in.  And  yet  our  '  religious  '  people  call  God's 
blessing  upon  these  doings  !  Why,  they  have  only  to 
become  sufficiently  general  and  widespread  to  make  this 
earth  a  hell.  Faugh  !  it  is  enough  to  make  the  very 
heathen  and  infidel  shudder  for  the  dangers  of  those  who 
mock  a  Christian's  God  with  such  blasphemous  cant." 

"  October  21,  1854. 
"  It  is  hard  to  stand  still  when  one  feels  that  the 
world  is  going  wrong  on  a  question  in  which  one  is 
deeply  concerned,  but  events  are  working  out  the  best 
arguments  for  our  principles,  and  if  there  be  any  truth 
in  them   it  will   be  more  fully  vindicated  by  the  deeds 

113  H 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  the  Crimea,  and  their  consequences,  than  anything 
we  could  say.  Besides,  there  is  after  all  a  way  and 
time  of  doing  things  which  with  the  best  intentions 
may  work,  more  harm  than  good.  I  remember  the 
first  time  I  attended  Doncaster  races  on  the  '  Leger ' 
day  being  struck  with  this.  In  walking  from  the 
town  to  the  course  in  a  dense  stream  of  excited  and 
eager  visitors,  I  observed  some  men  having  the  guise 
of  missionaries  who  were  offering  to  distribute  tracts 
and  harangue  the  multitude  against  horse-racing  !  A 
plentiful  shower  of  oaths  and  gibes  was  all  that  rewarded 
them  for  their  pains.  Now  if  we  set  up  our  standard 
and  begin  preaching  peace  whilst  the  bells  are  ringing 
for  victory  or  supposed  victory,  we  shall  fare  no  better 
than  the  poor  men  in  rusty  black  and  whity-brown 
neckcloths  at  Doncaster.  If  they  had  waited  a  few 
days,  there  would  have  been  plenty  there  who  lost  at 
betting  who  would  have  been  in  a  mood  to  listen  ;  and 
if  we  take  the  proper  moment  there  will  be  in  every 
town  and  in  almost  every  '  good '  family  mourners  for 
the  loss  of  friends  and  relations  who  will  listen  to  us. 
I  agree  with  you  that  amongst  the  middle  class  the 
feeling  upon  the  war  is  rather  that  of  acquiescence  than 
of  enthusiasm.  I  was  struck  with  the  same  feeling  in 
the  House  in  the  last  session.  The  tone  was  always 
very  moderate,  that  House  represents  pretty  fairly  the 
middle  class.  The  Lords  were  much  more  pugnacious. 
In  fact  the  rabble  and  the  House  of  Peers  were  the 
great  advocates  of  the  war.  I  had  an  idea  of  address- 
ing a  reasoning  letter  to  the  electors  of  Yorkshire. 
The  time  has  not  yet  come,  but  it  may  come." 

"December  3,  1854. 
"  I    returned     from     Lancaster    yesterday,    and     must 
confess  with  sorrow  that  I  never  paid  so  unsatisfactory 

114 


The  Crimean  War 

a  visit  to  that  part  of  the  kingdom.  The  war  spirit 
was  far  rifer  than  I  expected  and  it  pervaded  all 
classes,  infecting  many  from  whom  I  had  expected 
better  things.  It  is  a  moral  epidemic,  and  the  only 
resource  I  found  was  in  escaping  as  speedily  as  possible 
from  it.  Once  or  twice  I  asked  myself  the  unpleasant 
question,  '  Are  we,  after  all,  rational  and  progressive 
creatures  ? '  " 

"  December  9,  1854. 

"I  have  written  to  Bunsen  in  the  spirit  you  wish. 
His  complaint  about  Bright  attacking  the  Ministry  is 
a  repetition  of  what  I  hear  from  all  quarters.  Even 
many  of  his  friends  in  Manchester,  who  go  with  him 
heartily  against  the  war,  are  puzzled  at  his  assault 
upon  the  Government  whom  they  believe  to  have  been 
always  as  a  body  less  eager  for  war  than  the  country. 
In  a  letter  which  I  have  just  received  from  Geo.  Combe 
he  holds  precisely  the  same  language.  He  says  Bright 
has  taken  the  weakest  possible  ground.  I  have  often 
tried  in  private  to  persuade  our  friend  to  rely  less 
upon  attacks  on  the  personnel  of  the  Government, 
and  more  on  the  enforcement  of  sound  principles  upon 
the  public — but  his  pugnacity  delights  in  a  knockdown 
blow  at  something  as  visible  and  tangible  as  a  Minister 
of  State.  I  wish  you  would  send  copies  of  your 
edition  of  Bright's  speech  with  notes  to  Combe  and 
Bunsen. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  Austrian  treaty  ?  Is 
it  a  manoeuvre  of  the  Government's  to  get  out  of  the 
war?  All  of  them  are  tired  of  it,  and  I  am  told 
our  aristocracy  are  sick  of  the  prospect  of  the  spring, 
when  the  Queen's  Body  Guards  and  all  will  have  to 
go  and  take  their  share  of  the  hard  knocks.  I  suppose 
you  are   aware   that  the  poor  Duke  of  Cambridge  lost 

115 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

his  head  at  the  last  battle.  I  mean  the  little  reason 
that  was  in  it.  My  correspondent  says  the  slaughter 
of  his  Guards  drove  him  mad.  He  showed  the  usual 
courage  of  his  family,  but  the  excitement  was  too 
great  for  him.  If  there  be  signs  of  an  attempt  at  an 
armistice,  something  should  be  done  at  once  by  the 
Peace  Party.  You  should  in  that  case  see  Mr.  S.  Gurney, 
whose  co-operation  would  be   most   valuable." 

"December  29,  1854. 
"  No  overt  public  act  can  be  taken  with  advantage 
till  it  is  known  publicly  that  the  Government,  or  at 
least  a  part  of  them,  is  for  negotiating.  I  mean  no 
step  such  as  I  pointed  out,  having  reference  to  the 
four  points.  But  everything  should  be  done  by  sound- 
ing friends  and  preparing  for  the  moment  when  it 
comes.  I  should  have  no  objection  to  a  meeting  of 
friends  of  peace  being  called  in  London,  if  at  the 
proper  moment  it  was  thought  that  such  a  step  would 
be  successful.  I  am  inclined  to  think  there  is  some 
reaction,  or  at  least  that  the  public  enthusiasm  is  cool- 
ing. Several  letters  have  reached  me  from  clergymen 
approving  my  speech.  It  looks  very  much  as  if  the 
besiegers  were  gathering  up  their  strength  for  an 
assault  on  Sebastopol.  This  I  have  no  doubt  is  the 
step  urged  upon  their  Commanders  by  the  French 
Government,  which  is  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  being 
defeated  before  the  town  and  thus  having  the  military 
prestige  lowered  in  its  hands.  An  assault  will  be 
attended  with  a  fearful  loss  of  life,  and  I  predict  will 
have  but  very  partial  success,  and  be  attended  with 
scarcely  any  consequence  decisive  of  the  war.  But 
the  horrors  and  carnage  of  an  assault  may  incline  some 
of  our  religious  public  to  favour  peace.  These  profess- 
ing Christians   puzzle  me  exceedingly.      In    Baines'    last 

Il6 


The  Crimean  War 

Mercury  he  says  :  '  England  and  France  must  send 
the  largest  possible  reinforcements  in  the  least  possible 
time,  and  carry  the  place  at  any  cost'  Now  I  should 
wish  nothing  better  than  the  task  of  cross-examining 
him  in  public,  with  the  New  Testament  in  hand,  and 
compelling  him  to  justify  himself  out  of  the  Book  he 
professes  to  believe   in   and  obey." 


The  unpopularity  attaching  to  opponents  of  the  war 
had  not  at  the  beginning  of  1855  reached  its  maximum 
intensity.  At  any  rate,  it  was  not  intense  enough  to  pre- 
vent Cobden  from  addressing  a  great  public  meeting  at 
Leeds  in  January  upon  the  war,  in  which  he  expressed  his 
views  in  the  most  uncompromising  terms  and  was  listened 
to,  if  not  with  agreement,  at  any  rate  with  acquiescence 
and  respect.  Some  passages  from  that  speech  deserve 
citation  as  examples  of  the  tests  which  Cobden  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  great  crime  of  the  mid-century. 

"  My  first  and  greatest  objection  to  the  war,  gentlemen, 
has  been  the  delusive,  I  had  almost  said  fraudulent,  pre- 
tences under  which  it  has  been  made  popular  in  this 
country.  I  mean  that  the  feelings  of  the  people  have 
been  roused  into  enthusiasm  in  favour  of  the  war,  by 
being  led  to  entertain  the  belief  that  it  was  to  effect  objects 
which  I  know  and  felt,  at  all  events,  it  never  was  intended 
to  effect.  Now,  will  anybody  for  a  moment  deny  that, 
twelve  or  fifteen  months  ago,  when  the  first  excitement 
in  favour  of  a  war  with  Russia  took  place — will  anybody 
deny  that  that  which  carried  forward  the  mass  of  the 
people  of  this  country  in  favour  of  a  war  against  Russia 
was,  that  it  had  for  its  object  to  give  freedom  to  strug- 
gling nationalities  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  that  it 
would  have  for  its  object  to  put  a  check  upon  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Russia — with  reference,  I  mean,  to  the  invasion 

117 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  Hungary,  and  the  conquest  of  Circassia,  or  the  occupa- 
tion of  other  countries?  Does  anybody  for  a  moment 
deny  that  the  prevalent  opinion  of  the  people  of  the 
country  was  that,  in  going  to  war  against  Russia,  you  were 
foing  to  inscribe  on  your  banners  the  reconstitution  of 
Polish  nationality  ? " 

But  turning  from  pretences  to  reality — 

"  It  is  a  war  in  which  we  have  a  despot  for  an  enemy, 
a  despot  for  an  ally,  and  a  despot  for  a  client."  u  Look- 
ing at  the  war  as  it  really  is — a  war  in  opposition  to 
Russian  encroachments  upon  Turkey,"  he  argued  that 
Austria,  Prussia,  and  the  whole  German  confederates  were, 
from  their  geographical  position  and  their  politics,  more 
interested  in  Russian  schemes  of  aggrandizement  than  we 
were.  If  the  Russian  policy  were  so  dangerous,  these 
near  neighbours  would  be  the  first  to  fear  and  resent  it, 
and  would  have  been  impelled  to  take  action.  Either  the 
knowledge  and  dread  of  such  powerful  resistance  would 
have  restrained  Russia,  or  by  waiting  for  the  more 
interested  parties  to  move  we  should  have  had  an  over- 
whelming force  to  meet  Russian  aggression.  Our  in- 
terests are  too  remote,  and  neither  require  nor  justify  our 
intervention.  Nothing  but  the  rhetoric  of  pugnacity  is 
responsible  for  the  contention  that  "  if  you  allow  Russia  to 
take  Turkey,  then  she  will  become  so  powerful,  having 
possession  of  such  rich  territories,  that  she  will  next  come 
and  take  other  neighbouring  countries,  and  take  possession 
of  England  also."  There  is,  he  urged,  no  ground  for 
such  a  supposition  or  for  the  feasibility  of  such  an  aspira- 
tion after  European  hegemony.  "  Here  is  the  opinion 
given  by  Lord  Palmerston  upon  this  subject  :  '  There 
never  has  been  a  great  State  whose  policy  for  external 
aggression  has  been  more  overrated  than  Russia.  She 
may  be  impregnable  within  her  own  boundaries,  but  she 
is  nearly  powerless  for  all  purposes  of  offence.' 

Il8 


The  Crimean   War 

The  central  appeal  of  his  speech  was  to  reality  of  motive, 
which  can  only  be  gauged  by  a  wider  historic  survey. 
"  We  are  taking  a  position  which  the  world  does  not 
recognize  in  us.  I  must  ask  you  again  to  bear  in  mind 
that  within  the  last  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  we  have 
taken  from  a  Mahomedan  sovereign,  the  Great  Mogul, 
territory  containing  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  ot 
people — nearly  twice  as  many  as  the  whole  Russian 
Empire  ;  and  when  you  remember  what  we  have  done 
with  the  Dutch  at  the  Cape,  and  what  we  have  done  with 
everybody  else  somewhere  or  other — when  other  countries 
remember  that,  they  don't  view  us  in  the  same  light  as 
we  do  ourselves — that  we  are  the  disinterested,  just,  and 
perfect  and  immaculate  people  that  we  allege  of  ourselves." 
"  I  come  now  to  the  logical  deduction  from  this — that 
we  find  that  not  only  does  not  Russia  acknowledge  out- 
authority  as  a  judge,  but  that  the  rest  of  the  world  does 
not  acknowledge  it."  In  considering  this  appeal  to  out- 
national  interests  it  must  be  remembered  that  at  this 
time  the  Suez  Canal  had  not  been  made,  and  the 
charge  of  Russian  intentions  to  invade  India  had  not 
been   formulated. 

In  support  of  Cobden's  attribution  ot  sham  idealistic 
motives  to  the  engineers  of  the  Crimean  War,  I  will  quote 
the  following  passage  from  a  controversial  letter  written 
to  Cobden  in  November  1855  by  a  Mr.  X,  a  friend  of 
Mrs.  Schwabe  : 

"This,  then,  is  my  creed.  I  look  upon  Russia  as  the 
personification  of  Despotism — the  apostle  of  Legitimacy, 
and  the  enemy  of  Liberty  and  human  progress.  In  the 
present  state  of  Poland  and  Hungary  we  see  her  work  ; 
and  Sebastopol  tells  us  for  what  future  outrages  on  the 
freedom  of  Europe  she  was  making  preparation.  Such  a 
power  can  only  be  curbed  by  war,  and  must  be  so  curbed, 
sooner  or  later,  if  Europe  is  to  remain  free.      We  have  no 

119 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

right  to  bequeath  this  struggle  to  our  posterity.  It  is  a 
present  duty  ;  and  if  we  believe  that  God  wills  the  liberty 
and  happiness  of  mankind,  how  can  we  doubt  that  we  are 
doing  God's  work  in  fighting  for  liberty  against  aggres- 
sion ?  There  is  no  fanaticism  in  this  doctrine.  I  believe 
that  the  Russians  themselves  have  as  good  ground  for 
thanksgiving  under  defeat  as  we  have  in  victory  ;  because 
defeat  will,  under  God's  providence,  bring  to  them  the 
national  blessings  which  victory  secures  to  us."  l 

Cobden's  early  letters  of  1855  have  several  allusions  to 
this  Leeds  meeting,  and  early  in  the  year  he  notes  signs 
of  a  recovery  of  national  sanity.  But  his  sanguine  temper 
here  got  the  better  of  his  judgment,  as  he  recognized  later 
in  the  year.  By  September  the  public  policy  and  senti- 
ments of  his  countrymen  inspired  him  with  growing 
disgust.  British  pugnacity  was  the  chief  obstacle  to 
peace  ;  the  people  was  worse  than  the  Government,  and 
the  sole  hope  of  an  early  settlement  he  was  disposed  to 
find  in  the  broken  finance  of  France  and  the  precarious 
position  of  Napoleon. 

The  democratic  instinct  of  Cobden  finds  expression  in 
his  growing  concern  for  the  political  education  of  public 
opinion  as  the  only  valid  check  upon  the  crimes  and  follies 
of  Governments,  and  recognizing  that  in  periods  of  great 
national  excitement  the  "  platform  "  which  had  served  him 
so  well  in  his  Free-Trade  agitation  might  be  lost,  he  turned 
with  greater  zest  to  the  project  of  a  genuinely  free  Press. 
The  unscrupulous  misrepresentations  of  The  Times,  the 
unreliability  of  such  Liberal  papers  as  the  Daily  News 
and  the  Leeds  Mercury,  together  with  the  new  possibili- 
ties opened  up  by  the  repeal  of  the  paper  duty  (1855), 
brought  him  to  cherish  ardent  hopes  of  the  new  experi- 
ment which  began  in  the  autumn  by  the  launching  of  the 
Morning  Star. 

1   Schvvabc,  p.  259. 
120 


The  Crimean  War 

"  January  2,  1855. 
"  I  see  no  impropriety  in  your  endeavouring  to  secure 
signatures  to  such  a  memorial  as  you  sent  me.  My  only 
doubt  would  be  as  to  the  success  of  the  effort.  If  it  be 
merely  signed  by  the  Friends  and  Peace  Congress  people 
it  would  not  be  worth  much  ;  and  I  fear  other  parties  of 
influence  would  not  give  their  names  unless  there  was  a 
Ministerial  demonstration  in  favour  of  peace,  or  at  least 
until  it  was  publicly  known  that  the  Government  were 
favourable  to  negotiations.  Such  people  might  argue 
very  reasonably  that  any  strong  demonstration  on  the 
part  of  the  English  people  might  only  harden  the  terms 
of  the  Czar  in  his  transactions  with  our  Government. 
However,  I  repeat,  I  see  no  objection  to  the  trial.  I  can 
give  you  no  information  as  to  the  state  of  the  negotia- 
tions. Unless  Lord  Aberdeen  himself  be  false,  which  I 
don't  suspect,  I  know  him  to  be  trying  to  arrange  peace 
on  the  terms  of  the  four  points  with  certain  modifications. 
But  I  am  not  sure  that  if  it  were  put  to  him  he  would 
counsel  an  agitation  for  signatures  to  such  a  memorial 
as  you  sent  at  the  present  moment,  nor  can  I  say  that  he 
would  not." 

'■'■January  6,  1855. 
"  I  am  in  a  dilemma  about  the  Leeds  meeting.  In 
answer  to  my  letter  to  Mr.  Garbutt  (chairman  of  the 
Reform  Registration  Society),  asking  him  to  arrange  for 
a  meeting  and  to  preside  for  me,  he  has  written  to  say 
that  after  consulting  the  leading  reformers  he  declines  to 
be  a  party  to  my  visiting  the  West  Riding  at  the  present 
juncture.  1  am  not  surprised,  I  confess,  for  they  all  are 
committed,  with  Baines  at  their  head,  to  the  war,  and  my 
appearance  could  have  no  other  effect  but  to  disturb  their 
equanimity.  I  have  written  a  conciliatory  reply,  saying 
that   I  shall   hope  to  see  them  privately,  if  they  will  not 

121 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

listen  to  me  publicly,  for  that  being  about  to  visit  the 
North  of  England,  I  shall  make  a  journey  to  Yorkshire, 
but  that  as  respects  a  public  meeting  I  shall  consult  those, 
be  they  few  or  many,  who  share  my  views  upon  the 
subject  of  the  war,  and  shall  be  guided  by  them  as  to 
the  kind  of  demonstration  I  shall  have.  Now,  I  am  not 
sufficiently  at  home  in  Leeds  to  know  who  are  the 
persons  likely  to  co-operate  with  me.  What  I  want  is 
to  be  able  to  hold  such  a  meeting  as  will  afford  an  excuse 
to  deliver  a  speech  which  will  be  reported  in  the  London 
and  Yorkshire  papers.  If  I  was  sure  of  a  calm  hearing, 
I  would  advise  that  the  Music  Hall  at  Leeds  be  en- 
gaged for  Wednesday  evening  the  17th  inst.,  on  which 
day  it  is  disengaged,  and  that  advertisements  be  inserted 
in  the  Leeds  papers  on  Saturday  announcing  that  on  that 
day,  and  giving  the  hour  and  place,  Mr.  Cobden,  M.P., 
will  deliver  an  address  to  his  constituents.  I  should,  of 
course,  make  the  war  my  text,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to 
rouse  the  antagonism  of  the  War  Party  by  announcing 
it.  Now,  can  you  obtain  for  me  the  advice  and  assist- 
ance of  some  good  Peace  men  in  Leeds,  who  will  take 
upon  themselves  to  act  on  the  best  opinion  they  can 
form  ?  1  do  not  think  I  should  be  liable  to  interruption 
or  insult  in  addressing  a  public  meeting.  1  would,  of 
course,  to  some  extent  adapt  my  speech  to  the  circum- 
stances, and  I  should  not  contemplate  asking  for  any  vote 
or  expression  of  approbation.  All  I  should  want  would 
be  a  quiet  hearing,  and  I  suspect  the  war  mania  has  suffi- 
ciently cooled  to  ensure  me  that  courtesy.  I  have  written 
to  Edwd.  Smith,  Sheffield,  who  will,  I  dare  say,  be  in  com- 
munication with  some  of  our  Peace  friends  in  Leeds.  It 
would  be  well  if  the  (  Friends  '  were  not  the  only  parties 
to  co-operate  with  me,  but  they  really  seem  to  be  the 
only  reliable  body  everywhere.  They  may,  however, 
find    some   influential    persons  of   other  sects  who  sym- 

122 


The  Crimean   War 

pathize  with  me.  I  am  not  afraid  of  filling  the  Music 
Hall  at  the  shortest  notice.  My  only  anxiety  is  to  have 
a  rational  audience.  It  would  certainly  be  a  very  desirable 
thing  to  be  able  to  speak  through  The  Times  to  the  whole 
world  from  the  West  Riding  at  the  present  moment. 
But  the  time  for  arrangements  is  very  short." 

"■January  10,  1855. 

"  By  the  way,  apropos  of  the  newspaper  Press,  I  expect 
the  stamp  will  come  off  this  spring.  Could  not  a  cheap 
daily  paper  be  started  to  advocate  the  doctrine  of  the 
4  Manchester  School '  the  same  as  the  Manchester 
Examiner,  etc. — peace,  non-intervention,  economy,  etc.  ? 
in  my  opinion,  after  the  present  war  there  will  be  a 
reaction  which  will  give  a  good  opening  for  such  a 
paper.  In  fact,  it  is  a  great  unoccupied  field  in  London, 
the  only  one  connected  with  the  Press  not  occupied,  and 
I  feel  convinced  it  would  prove  a  good  mercantile  specu- 
lation if  the  business  part  of  the  undertaking  were  well 
managed.      I  should  like  to  see  your  hand  in  such  a  paper. 

44  You  did  right  in  telling  Sturge  not  to  appear  too 
openly  in  the  Leeds  arrangement.  I  have  an  invitation 
from  Garbutt  to  go  to  his  house,  but  have  advised  him  to 
let  me  take  shelter  at  an  inn,  rather  than  carry  discord 
into  his  domestic  circle.  I  don't  know  whether  he  will 
insist  on  my  being  his  guest  after  he  knows  that  1  am 
going  to  hold  a  public  meeting.'' 

"  February  5,  1855. 
44  There  is  a  point  ali tided  to  in  your  letter  which  [ 
thought  of  writing  to  you  about.  I  mean  the  now  disputed 
fact  that  the  popularity  of  the  war  originally  sprung  from 
the  belief  that  it  was  to  be  a  war  of  liberation  to  certain 
nationalities.  I  wish  if  you  find  time  you  would  refer 
back  to  the  proceedings  of  some  of  the  public  meetings 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

and   see  what  really   passed.     There   is  a   moral  in  this, 
for  it  is  an  illustration  of  the  lamentable  fact  that  when 
once   involved   in    war  we   forget   the  very   motives   and 
circumstances  which  led   us  into  it,  and   transfer  all  our 
enthusiasm   to   the  war    itself.      People    in   this    state  of 
mind  are  more  difficult  to  deal  with   than  any  other,  for 
they  refuse    to    reason    upon    the    subject,  and    abandon 
themselves    to    their    belligerent    passions,  and    are    very 
intolerant   of  everybody  else  who  does  not  follow  their 
example.      By    the   way,   our  Court    and    aristocracy   are 
gathering   their   full    share  of   the   bitter   fruits    of  war. 
The   latter   by  the  loss  of  their  sons  and  relatives,  and 
still   more  by  the  loss  of  reputation  as  a  governing  class, 
the    former   in    the  embarrassments    and    perplexities    to 
which  it   is    subjected  in    the   choice  of   a  new  Cabinet. 
Whilst    I   write   I   am    ignorant    as   to  the  result  of   the 
Ministerial   interregnum,   but   if  the  Court  is  compelled 
to  gulp  the  Palmerston  dose,  it  will  pay  a  heavy  fine  for 
the  luxury  of  the  war  ;  and  remembering  how  much  the 
Court  is  responsible  for  the  warlike  passions  which  were 
excited    by    its    camps    and    reviews,    I    certainly    think 
it  is   a  righteous   retribution   that  it  should   suffer  some 
part  of  the  penalty.     I  am  very  curious  to  see  if  after  all 
that  has  passed  the  Queen  will  '  send  for  '  Lord   Palmer- 
ston.     It  will  be  another   illustration  of  how  war  tends 
to  set   up  the  wrong  men  and   the  wrong  principles.     I 
suppose  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  bully  us  all  into  sup- 
porting his  Government  as  an  act  of  patriotism  during 
the  time  he  is  carrying  on  the  war  '  with  vigour.'     But 
I   shall  certainly  never  own  him  as  my  leader,  or  for  any 
motive   be   induced   to   give   him   any  personal  support. 
I    still    expect   to  find  the   negotiations  for  peace  carried 
out.     Surely   the  Turk   will   be   more  anxious  to  put  an 
end  to  the  war  and  get  rid  of  the  French  and  English 
than  any  other  party.    If  you  hear  any  news,  let  me  know." 

124 


The  Crimean  War 

"  February  7,  1855. 
"  I  don't  think  that  Palmerston  is  less  likely  than 
Lord  Aberdeen  to  make  peace.  He  is  a  great  sham, 
and  not  nearly  so  warlike  as  his  foolish  dupes  of  adu- 
lators have  believed.  Unless  we  have  peace  soon,  the 
war  will,  I  expect,  enlarge  its  dimensions  very  speedily. 
But  I  repeat,  I  don't  see  what  Bright  and  I  can  do 
beyond  pressing  for  information  in  the  House  as  to  the 
present  stage  of  the  negotiations  and  the  causes  of  the 
delay."  > 

11  May  1,  1855. 
11 1  cannot  see  the  slightest  objection  to  the  attempt 
being  made  in  Manchester  to  get  the  memorial  signed 
by  as  many  people  as  possible.  It  is  very  well  worded 
for  catching  even  the  most  moderate  lover  of  peace.  In 
fact,  it  is  so  very  lenient  and  even  complimentary  towards 
the  Government  that  the  most  determined  Whig  may 
sign.  I  think  Bright  would  hardly  like  to  be  known  as 
the  author  of  phrases  so  like  oil  upon  those  storm  waves 
which  he  dashed  against  the  Ministry  the  last  night  of  the 
Session.  Still,  I  think  you  will  not  have  much  success  in 
London  until  it  is  known  that  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment is  bent  on  negotiations  and  The  Times  begins  to 
show  signs  of  turning.  But  you  may  be  feeling  your 
way  in  the  meantime.  I  will  communicate  with  Bright. 
"  I  expect  to  hear  soon  of  another  dreadful  contest  in 
the  Crimea.  Probably  the  town  will  be  assaulted  by  the 
French.  If  so  we  may  read  accounts  of  the  dead  and 
wounded  cumbering  the  streets  to  the  first-floor  windows. 
Then,  probably,  our  '  religious  '  public  will  be  satisfied  !  " 

"  May  15,  1855. 
"  Gibson    will    assuredly   divide.      He  comes   on    next 
Monday,   and  in  all   probability  the  division   will  be  on 

125 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Tuesday.  If  you  can  influence  any  members  to  support 
him  you  must  not  lose  a  moment  in  doing  so  ;  Gladstone 
and  Graham  will  speak  and  vote  for  him,  and  several 
of  the  Tories  are  going  with  him.  But  we  shall  be  in 
a  poor  minority,  I  expect. 

"  Lord  Grey  puts  off  his  motion  in  the  Lords,  which 
was  fixed  for  Monday  next.  He  expects  to  be  left 
almost  alone  unless  the  bishops  support  him,  of  which, 
by  the  way,  I  should  think  there  is  but  little  chance. 
He  told  me  this  morning  that  he  was  trying  to  influence 
the  Bishop  of  Oxford.  It  has  occurred  to  me  that  it 
would  be  a  good  plan  if  the  Peace  Society  were  to  address 
a  short  appeal  to  the  Bench  of  Bishops  urging  on  them, 
as  the  exponents  of  Christian  principles  in  the  House  of 
Peers,  the  duty  of  supporting  Lord  Grey's  motion  for 
peace.  If,  as  Lord  Lansdowne  says,  240,000  Russians 
have  been  destroyed  since  the  war  began,  surely  it  is  time 
to  stay  the  hand  of  the  destroyer.     Think  of  this  idea." 

-July  15,  1855. 
"  It  would  be  very  desirable,  I  think,  to  make  a 
collection  of  paragraphs  from  The  Times  upon  the  subject 
of  the  war,  and  more  especially  respecting  the  expedition 
to  the  Crimea,  showing  in  the  first  place  how  much  that 
journal  is  responsible  for  the  present  dangers  into  which 
the  country  rushed  at  its  instigation,  and  with  a  view 
especially  to  discredit  it  for  the  future  and  lead  the 
people,  if  possible,  to  think  for  themselves.  I  should 
like  particularly  to  see  some  extracts  from  articles  written 
at  the  time  of  the  expedition  being  sent  from  Varna 
to  the  Crimea.  These  extracts  ought  to  be  brought  out 
in  the  House,  or  in  a  pamphlet,  or  through  the  pages 
of  a  new" daily  peace  paper.  The  debate  on  Roebuck's 
motion  would  give  a  good  opportunity  for  some  quota- 
tions.    I   wish   you  would  give  your   very  first    leisure 

126 


The  Crimean   War 

hours  to  the  exploring  of  the  columns  of  The  Times. 
It  is  an  institution  of  the  realm,  like  Queen,  Lords, 
and  Commons,  and  must  be  dealt  with  as  such.  If  it 
can  be  shown  how  greatly  it  is  responsible  for  an 
expedition  which  every  rational  man  now  in  his  heart 
condemns,  it  will  much  impair  the  force  of  its  war 
advocacy  in  future.  Bright  or  I  would  not  hesitate  to 
take  it  in  hand." 

"  August  5,  1855. 
"  I  had  not  received  your  letter  dated  1st  when  I  saw 
you  in  London,  or  I  should  have  said  (what  you  would 
gather  from  my  remarks  in  Ryder  Street),  that  I  quite 
agree  with  you  as  to  Haly's  views,  or  rather  feelings, 
being  by  no  means  identical  with  ours  on  the  Peace 
Question.  I  should  not  object  to  one  who  was  more 
indifferent  than  ourselves  being  at  the  head  of  a  paper, 
provided  the  power  over  the  property  were  absolutely 
vested  in  those  whom  we  could  trust.  I  would  trust 
nobody  who  set  up  a  paper  on  merely  mercantile  prin- 
ciples to  oppose  the  current  passions  or  prejudices  even 
for  a  day.  I  quite  agree  also  in  your  view  that  our 
paper  must  have  a  country  circulation.  This  will  come, 
of  course,  to  a  certain  extent,  but  I  predict  that  London 
daily  papers  will  have  less  sway  henceforth  than  they  have 
hitherto  had  in  the  provinces.  The  removal  of  the  stamp 
will  set  agoing  a  far  more  influential  local  Press.  It  will 
he  worth  while  for  the  Peace  Party  to  promote  the 
establishment  of  good  papers  in  other  places  besides 
London." 

"  September  18,  1855. 
"  You  ask  my  opinion  on  the  present  aspect  of  affairs. 
I  really  do  not  think  that  any  rational  deduction  can  be 
drawn,   from  any  given   facts,  of  the  probable  course  of 

127 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

events  in  respect  to  our  foreign  policy.  Reason  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  ebullitions  of  the  war  spirit 
which  we  now  witness  and  have  before  encountered  in 
this  country.  Its  manifestations  assume  the  most  opposite 
characters  and  take  the  most  opposite  directions — now 
against  Louis  Napoleon,  next  in  his  favour,  once  in 
opposition  to  Louis  Philippe,  then  as  strongly  against 
those  who  dethroned  him — in  fact,  a  drunken  Irishman 
in  a  fair  never,  even  in  romantic  story,  was  made  to 
pick  quarrels,  more  heedless  of  all  rational  grounds, 
than  this  great  nation  has  in  the  last  ten  years  of  its 
history  done  with  its  neighbours.  But  you  ask  what  in 
my  opinion  will  be  the  effect  of  the  late  success  at 
Sebastopol  upon  the  chance  of  peace.  If  the  issue  depend 
on  the  will  of  the  English  people,  it  is  clear  that  we  are 
farther  than  ever  from  that  happy  goal  ;  for  what  corner 
of  the  Empire  offers,  amidst  the  deluge  of  fierce  passions 
which  everywhere  covers  the  land,  one  resting-place  for 
the  messenger  which  goeth  forth  in  quest  of  the  olive- 
branch  of  peace  ?  I  am  actually  so  amazed  and  disgusted 
and  excited  at  the  frenzy  to  which  all  classes — and 
especially  those  called  middle  and  respectable — have 
abandoned  themselves,  and  am  so  horrified  at  the 
impudent  impiety  with  which  they  make  God  a  witness 
and  partaker  of  their  devilish  paroxysm,  that  I  would 
rather  say  nothing  about  it.  My  only  hope  is  in  Louis 
Napoleon,  his  interests  and  necessities.  When  I  saw 
Lord  Aberdeen  a  few  weeks  since,  he  said  that  his  only 
hope  of  peace  was  founded  on  a  favourable  issue  of  the 
siege  at  Sebastopol,  that  if  Louis  Napoleon  could  meet 
with  a  '  success '  to  satisfy  his  army,  he  would  seize 
the  opportunity  of  making  peace.  Well,  he  has  now 
the  opportunity,  and  I  have  a  strong  impression  (though 
founded  on  no  facts)  that  he  has  sent  pacific  proposals 
to  our  Government,  and  that  this  embarrassing  message 

128 


The  Crimean   War 

is  the  cause  of  the  frequent  and  long  Cabinet  Councils — 
for  how  can  our  Government  make  out  a  case  to  their 
deluded  followers  to  justify  a  peace  which  must  certainly 
involve  the  abandonment  of  the  Crimea  ?  The  danger  is 
that  Louis  Napoleon,  whose  one  dominant  idea  is  the 
alliance  with  England,  may  yield  to  Palmerston  and  the 
warlike  spirit  of  our  people  and  go  on  with  the  war. 
But  he  has  graver  reasons  against  such  a  course  at  home. 
He  will  have  to  raise  another  army  to  pursue  the  war  in 
the  interior  of  Russia — bread  is  certainly  rising  in  price, 
and  there  is  an  ugly  symptom  of  rottenness  in  the 
financial  state  of  France,  as  illustrated  by  the  Dr.  and 
Cr.  of  the  Bank  of  France  and  the  rapid  fall  of  some 
of  the  public  securities.  How  does  it  illustrate  the 
madness  of  our  combative  countrymen,  when  one  can 
only  turn  with  hope  for  peace  to  the  coercion  of  a 
Bonaparte  upon  the  deliberations  of  our  Cabinet  !  I 
don't  see  how  we  can  act  with  Gladstone  in  the  broad 
advocacy  of  non-intervention  so  long  as  he  professes  to 
be  an  advocate  of  the  policy  of  invading  Russia.  He 
seems  to  put  an  impassable  gulf  between  us  by  that  one 
argument — for  if  anything  is  ever  to  be  done  again 
in  favour  of  peace  principles,  it  must  be  by  persuading 
the  masses,  at  least,  to  repudiate  the  very  principle  of 
the  Russian  invasion.  The  paper  which  offered  itself 
to  the  Peace  Party  '  for  a  consideration  '  has  been 
changed  to  a  penny  paper,  and  has  gone  right  over  to 
the  War  Party.     I  send  you  a  copy  by  this  post." 

'■'■September  29,  1855. 
"  Have  you  returned  to  town  ?  I  have  a  letter  from 
Sturge  about  the  proposed  penny  paper.  He  has  been 
exerting  himself  according  to  his  wont,  and  seems  likely 
to  raise  the  money  required.  But  he  expresses  his  doubt 
whether  Haly  is  the  right  man  to  manage,  and  speaks 

129  I 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

favourably  of  Collins  (Hull)  and  Hamilton.  These  are 
men  in  whom  I  should  have  the  most  implicit  confidence 
as  regards  principle.  But  I  understood  that  another  safe- 
guard was  to  be  taken  that  the  paper  should  go  right  on 
the  Peace  Question  ;  indeed,  it  is  still  Sturge's  main 
reliance  that  Wilson,  Bright  and  I  are  in  some  way  to 
have  a  veto  on  the  politics  of  the  paper.  If  so,  I  doubt 
the  policy  of  giving  the  management  to  enthusiastic  Peace 
men,  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  doubt  whether  a  daily 
newspaper  which  avowed  itself  at  the  outset  exclusively  or 
mainly  a  peace  organ  would  get  into  circulation  at  all 
amongst  the  general  public,  and  if  it  fails  to  do  so  to 
the  extent  of  thirty  thousand  daily  it  will  fail  altogether, 
and  entail  nothing  but  loss  on  all  concerned.  My  idea  is 
that  the  paper  must,  if  it  is  to  live,  be  in  the  first  place 
a  thoroughly  good  newspaper,  and  not  a  mere  expansion 
of  the  Herald  of  Peace.  If  the  latter  is  the  idea  in  view 
it  should  be  by  making  it  a  weekly  paper.  If  my  idea 
of  a  daily  paper  be  carried  out,  it  must  not  at  the 
commencement  deter  readers  and  subscribers  by  in- 
cessantly giving  leaders  against  this  war.  I  should  say 
that  at  the  first  the  attacks  against  this  policy  of  the  war 
should  appear  chiefly  in  the  form  of  letters,  and  I  don't 
think  anybody's  pen  but  your  own  need  be  engaged  in 
that  direction.  In  course  of  time,  when  the  public 
will  read  and  reason  on  the  subject,  the  whole  principle 
of  foreign  intervention  must  be  v/orked  out  in  its  columns 
in  the  interest  of  peace.  In  the  meantime,  not  only  must 
nothing  be  said  or  implied  which  goes  to  tolerate  this 
war,  but  everything  consistent  with  the  success  of  a 
daily  newspaper  must  appear  against  it.  Now,  will  our 
friends  who  are  subscribing  their  money  so  far  temporize 
as  to  be  willing  to  see  the  editor  of  the  paper  postpone 
a  portion  of  what  can  be  said  in  favour  of  peace  until  a 
more  convenient  season?     If  they  cannot  tolerate  a  little 

130 


The  Crimean  War 

of  the  '  wisdom  of  the  serpent'  as  a  means  of  promoting 
the  '  harmlessness  of  the  dove,'  I  don't  believe  it  possible 
at  present  to  establish  a  daily  paper  in  the  interest  of 
peace.  The  time  may  come,  perhaps,  when  the  reaction 
will  be  more  decisive  for  starting  such  a  paper,  but  it 
will  not  be  this  year.  I  hear  from  all  sides  of  the 
unanimity  of  feeling  for  the  war.  Mr.  J.  \\.  Smith, 
who  has  been  moving  about  in  the  North  for  a  month 
or  six  weeks,  writes  to  me  to  say  that  he  has  not  met 
with  one  person  who  agrees  with  us.  I  have  been  visiting 
at  Chichester,  and  positively  I  cannot  hear  of  a  man  or 
woman  in  that  cathedral  city  who  is  against  the  war.  A 
clergyman  actually  assured  me  (I  hope  libellously)  that  a 
wealthy  Quaker,  whose  name  I  will  not  repeat,  goes  with 
the  stream.  It  is  useless  our  shutting  our  eyes  to  these 
facts,  however  unpleasant  they  may  be,  and  however 
discouraged  we  may  feel.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt 
that  The  Times  represents  most  truly  at  this  moment 
the  prejudices,  ignorance,  arrogance,  and  combativeness 
of  the  middle  class  of  this  country.  The  working  class 
care  less  than  those  above  them  about  it,  but  only 
because  it  does  not  promise  to  benefit  '  nationality  '  or 
revolutionary  abroad." 

"  October  26,  1855. 
"  What  delirious  nonsense  The  Times  is  writing  about 
our  going  to  war  with  the  United  States  and  still  holding 
our  grip  upon  the  Northern  despot !  And  yesterday  we 
were  to  go  and  chaw  up  Naples.  This  Cockney  bluster 
will  in  the  end  make  us  ridiculous.  If  the  United  States 
took  us  at  the  challenge  of  The  Times,  and  presented  us 
with  a  casus  belli,  there  is  no  humiliation  we  should  not 
swallow  rather  than  go  to  war  with  that  country.  The 
lives  of  people  in  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire,  to  say 
nothing    of    their     fortunes,    would     not   be    worth    six 

131 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

months'  purchase,  if  we  were  at  war  with  Russia  and 
America.  They  would  be  eating  each  other  up  !  But 
I  sometimes  think  a  dreadful  example  of  the  kind  must 
he  made  of  us  to  cure  us  of  our  pride  and  arrogance." 

'•'■November  8,  1855. 

"  Many  thanks  for  the  letters  and  books  and  papers. 
From  the  number  of  communications  pouring  in  on 
me  I  should  think  there  must  be  a  little  awakening 
of  opposition  to  the  war-at-any-price  policy.  The 
newspapers  will  have  terrible  uphill  work  to  keep  up 
the  steam  during  the  winter.  Some  of  them  will,  I 
suspect,  turn  tail.  I  have  no  news  from  India.  That 
blood-cemented  edifice  will  one  day  cave  in  like  a  house 
of  cards.  Did  you  read  attentively  the  article  in  The 
Times  of  Monday  on  my  letter.  It  is  worth  while 
to  keep  a  record  of  its  argument.  The  first  position 
is  that  the  war  is  popular,  next  it  says  that  it  does  not 
appeal  to  the  strong  political  sympathies  of  the  people, 
and  that  therefore  they  won't  enlist.  Next  it  says 
that  the  electoral  body,  the  middle  class,  are  all  for 
war,  and  that  I  should  be  rejected  by  the  West  Riding 
constituency  because  I  am  for  peace,  and  then  it  goes 
on  coolly  to  tell  us  that  the  middle  class  are  much 
too  well  employed  to  enlist.  Then  the  question 
remains  to  be  asked — Who  is  to  do  the  fighting? 

"  The  Globe  has  put  out  an  article  from  the  Govern- 
ment to  show  that  the  recruiting  is  going  on  well,  but 
not  a  word  about  the  age  of  the  recruits." 

"  November  15,  1855. 

"  I     wish    you    would    be    good  enough    to    see    Mr. 

Washington  Wilks.      If  you  would  give  him  a  meeting, 

he  would  no  doubt  contrive  to  call,  and  pray  say  I  wrote 

to  you  on   the   subject.     I   am   of  opinion  that  if  these 

132 


The  Crimean  War 

people  can  be  moved  outside  of  the  old  Peace  Party 
it  would  be  very  desirable.  You  can  judge  better 
than  myself  whether  it  can  be  done.  There  cannot 
be  two  opinions,  I  think,  as  to  the  good  effects  produced 
everywhere  by  the  fact  of  public  meetings  being  called 
and  carried  by  the  Peace  men. 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  the  report  of  your  pro- 
gress in  the  country.     It  will  be  an  interesting  test. 

"  I  am  receiving  letters  from  new  men,  clergymen 
and  others,  urging  the  formation  of  a  Society  to  stop 
the  war.  I  also  get  letters  from  parsons  giving  de- 
plorable accounts  of  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  from 
high  prices  of  everything.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  Church 
of  England  clergy  have  from  the  first  given  more 
encouragement  by  their  correspondence  to  Bright  and 
myself  than  Dissenting  ministers  !  Is  not  this  very 
strange  seeing  that  the  tithes  are  increased  by  the 
war  prices  ?  " 

"  November  28,  1855. 

"  I  think  the  panic  and  excitement  you  caused  in 
some  places,  and  the  pains  taken  to  defeat  you,  argue 
well  for  the  growing  strength  of  your  cause.  The 
frantic  doses  administered  in  The  Times  seem  also  to 
show  that  the  drunken  {it  can  only  be  kept  up  by 
stronger  stimulants — but  the  reaction   must  follow. 

"  My  object  in  writing  is  more  especially  to  suggest 
a  plan  which  I  have  often  thought  of — that  of  going 
through  The  'Times  for  about  three  years  and  taking 
out  enough  for  a  short  pamphlet  of  its  inconsistencies, 
false  assumptions,  unverified  predictions,  and  bombastic 
appeals  to  the  momentary  passions  and  prejudices. 
You  could  get  The  Times  from  Gilpin,  at  the  Freehold 
Land  Society,  turn  over  its  pages  at  your  leisure,  and 
mark  the  passages    for  extract  for  your  clerk    to    copy. 

133 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

I  have  a  notion  that  you  would  get  an  astounding 
hash  to  print  under  the  title  of  ''These  are  your  guides' 
"  Another  thing  I  would  like  to  see  done,  and  wish 
such  a  man  as  Washington  Wilks  could  be  launched 
on  it — viz.  to  go  cursorily  over  the  same  paper  for 
twenty  or  thirty  years  and  extract  its  choice  bits  or 
abuse  of  Palmerston.  Such  a  collection,  under  the 
title  of  '  The  Times  and  Lord  Palmerston '  would  make 
a  capital  theme  for  a  lecture.     It  would  be  a  rich  treat." 

"  December  23,  1855. 
"  Will  you  cast  your  eye  over  the  enclosed  un- 
corrected proof  and  let  me  have  it  again.  The  article 
in  the  Constitutionnel  is  certainly  significant,  and  would 
lead  one  to  suppose  that  the  French  Government  is 
determined  to  have  peace,  with  or  without  the  con- 
currence of  England.  But  on  the  other  hand  what 
means  the  article  in  the  Post  containing  the  terms 
offered  to  Russia  ?  Russia  will  never,  I  should  think, 
agree  to  them,  and  yet  the  Independence  Beige  says 
those  terms  were  sanctioned  by  GortschakofF.  I  will 
believe  those  terms  to  be  agreed  on  when  I  see  it,  and 
not  before.  It  will,  of  course,  be  the  policy  of  Russia 
to  try  to  separate  France  and  England,  which  she  will 
try  to  do  by  making  a  show  of  a  willingness  to  negotiate, 
knowing  that  France  is  for  peace.  Louis  Napoleon  is 
in  a  desperate  dilemma  for  money  next  year.  The 
account  in  the  Brussels  paper  that  you  sent  is  about 
correct.  All  the  people  who  surround  him  are  stock- 
jobbers up  to  their  chins  in  speculation,  and  all  for 
peace,  because  it  suits  their  books.  Still,  I  do  not  see 
how  we  are  to  avoid  another  campaign." 


134 


CHAPTER   VII 

PEACE    AND    RECOVERY 

By  the  close  of  1855  it  became  evident  that  the  French 
nation  was  both  tired  and  disillusioned  in  respect  of 
the  Russian  war.  The  fall  of  Kars  and  the  breakdown 
of  the  Turkish  defence  in  Asia  Minor  fairly  balanced 
the  success  at  Sebastopol,  and  the  growing  unpopularity 
of  the  British  alliance  inclined  Napoleon  towards  an 
early  peace.  The  preparatory  steps  were  taken  by  the 
Austrian  Government  in  the  presentation  of  proposals 
to  Russia  which  might  form  the  basis  for  a  general 
peace.  This  was  the  announcement  made  on  the 
meeting  of  Parliament,  January  31st,  by  Lord  Derby. 
Though  the  general  feeling  in  this  country  was  still 
for  a  continuance  of  the  war,  Cobden's  early  letters 
show  that  he  diagnosed  the  situation  accurately  when 
he  insisted  that  Napoleon's  peace  disposition  would 
prevail.  The  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed  on  March  30th, 
and  before  the  Conference  rose  it  subscribed  a  statement 
of  great  importance  dealing  with  maritime  warfare, 
entitled  "  The  Declaration  of  Paris."  By  the  abolition 
of  privateering,  the  protection  of  neutral  goods  under 
an  enemy  flag,  and  enemy  goods  under  a  neutral  flag 
(excepting  contraband  of  war  in  both  cases),  and  by 
a  stricter  definition  of  blockade,  a  considerable  step 
appeared  to  have  been  taken  towards  that  doctrine  ot 
"  Freedom  of  the  Sea "  for  which   Cobden  stood. 

The  peace  was  not  particularly   popular  when  it  came, 

135 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

and  for  some  time  afterwards  attempts  were  made  in 
certain  quarters  to  stir  up  a  renewal  of  strife.  But 
domestic  affairs  and  certain  aftermaths  of  the  war  in 
the  United  States,  and  in  Italy,  soon  diverted  the 
attention  of  our  politicians  and  prevented  the  threatened 
disturbance  of  a  "  patched-up  peace." 

Soon  after  the  peace  a  serious  diplomatic  strain 
occurred  at  Washington.  During  the  Russian  War  a 
number  of  American  citizens  had  enlisted  in  the  British 
forces.  The  United  States  Government  protested 
against  this  act  as  violating  both  American  and  inter- 
national law,  and  adducing  evidence  to  associate  Mr. 
Crampton,  our  envoy  at  Washington,  with  this  enlistment 
policy,  they  demanded  his  dismissal.  After  some 
attempts  at  bluff,  accompanied  by  defiance  and  threats 
of  war  from  our  Jingo  Press,  our  Government  made 
a  sort  of  apology.  The  American  Government,  how- 
ever, insisted  on  Mr.  Crampton's  withdrawal,  and  it 
was  seriously  proposed  on  our  side  to  dismiss  Mr. 
Dallas,  the  American  representative  in  London.  This 
might  easily  have  led  to  war.  Fortunately  we  pocketed 
this  affront,  as  it  appeared  we  were  in  the  wrong,  and 
the  affair  blew  over.  Cobden  in  his  letters  of  the 
spring  sheds  a  good  deal  of  inner  light  upon  the  whole 
case,  and  shows  how  much  more  real  importance  attached 
to  the  less-discussed  issues  of  our  position  in  Central 
America,  and  the  projects  connected  with  a  canal  in 
Nicaragua  and  Panama  which  were  already  looming  in 
the   political  horizon. 

In  the  summer  the  question  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty 
in  the  two  Sicilies  became  prominent.  Gladstone's 
eloquent  exposure  of  the  horrors  of  the  Neapolitan 
prisons  in  1850  had  yet  borne  no  fruit.  Now  the 
English  and  French  Governments  united  in  a  vigorous 
protest  against  the  cruelties  of  the  Bourbon  rule.     The 

136 


Peace  and   Recovery 

king's  disregard  of  these  protests  led  to  a  withdrawal 
of  the  English  and  French  Ambassadors  on  October 
28th,  and  the  dispatch  of  a  joint  fleet  to  the  Bay  of 
Naples.  But  all  was  useless.  Russia  had  made  a 
counter-protest  against  this  naval  demonstration,  pointing 
out  its  violation  of  the  principles  of  the  Paris  Conference, 
and  in  any  case  the  Western  Powers  were  not  prepared 
for  the  extremity  of  bombarding  Naples  on  an  issue 
not  of  "  vital  interests  "  but  of  "  humanity."  Cobden, 
as  early  as  July  9th,  cuts  down  to  the  roots  of  the 
situation  and  predicts  the  futility  of  this  show  of 
violence. 

The  other  matter  of  external  importance  this  year 
which  would  naturally  have  attracted  Cobden's  attention 
was  the  war  with  Persia  which  broke  out  in  November, 
in  consequence  of  the  siege  of  Herat  by  the  Shah,  prob- 
ably at  the  instigation  of  Russia.  The  contest  was  short 
and  the  defeat  of  the  Persians  complete.  Peace  was 
signed  in  March  of  the  following  year.  The  silence  of 
Cobden  on  this  affair  in  his  letters  to  Mr.  Richard  is 
probably  attributable,  in  part,  to  his  absence  from 
London,  in  part  to  the  obscurity  which  beset  the  affair 
until  the  publication  of  the  official  dispatches  by  Sir 
James  Outram  in    1857. 

His  absence  from  London  during  virtually  the  whole 
of  the  year  was  due  to  the  terrible  blow  which  fell  upon 
him  and  his  wife  in  the  sudden  death  of  their  bright 
young  son,  who  had  been  at  school  at  Heidelberg.  The 
condition  of  Mrs.  Cobden's  health  for  a  long  time  to 
come  was  such  as  to  require  Cobden's  constant  presence 
and  care.  During  the  spring  and  summer  they  remained 
at  their  Midhurst  home,  later  on  they  spent  some  time 
at  Bognor,  and  the  late  autumn  and  winter  found 
them  farther  afield  in  North  Wales,  near  Bangor.  This 
temporary  withdrawal  from  the  House  of  Commons  and 

137 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

the  platform  left  Cobden  with   the  pen  as  his  only  direct 
instrument  of  political  influence. 

During  the  latter  part  of  1855  he  had  spent  some  time 
in  preparing,  in  view  of  the  expected  termination  of 
hostilities,  an  elaborate  pamphlet,  bearing  the  title  "  What 
next  ?  And  next  ?  '  This  pamphlet,  one  of  his  longest 
and  most  closely  reasoned,  was  published  early  in  January 
1856,  at  the  time  when  Austria,  influenced  by  Napoleon, 
was  proposing  to  Russia  the  terms  of  peace  which  resulted 
in  the  Conference  of  Paris.  It  was  an  argued  plea  for 
an  immediate  settlement  on  the  ground  that  we  had 
nothing  to  hope  for  in  the  way  of  a  decisive  victory,  if 
we  continued  the  war,  and  that  such  continuance  would 
cost  us  dear  in  lives,  trade  and  finance,  without  securing 
for  us  any  definite  political  or  other  object.  It  opens 
with  the  question  :  "  What  grounds  have  we  for  believing 
that  the  success  which  the  military  and  naval  authorities 
promised  a  year  ago  will  be  attainable  by  another  cam- 
paign ? '  Suppose  that,  after  the  occupation  of  the 
Crimea  (which  would  require  an  Allied  army  to  keep 
possession),  our  forces  proceeded  to  attack  the  Danube 
forts,  to  occupy  Odessa  and  to  seize  every  place  in  South 
Russia,  within  fifty  miles  of  the  Black  Sea,  what  then  ? 
Would  such  a  conquest  enable  them  to  dictate  humiliat- 
ing terms  to  the  enemy  ?  How  ?  We  could  not  hope 
by  any  force  we  could  assemble  to  occupy  Moscow,  or 
to  pursue  the  Russian  forces  to  their  destruction  within 
a  vast  country  in  which  every  further  advance  would 
increase  our  difficulties  and  our  dangers.  It  is  evident 
that  we  could  not  subdue  her  by  direct  internal  military 
operations.  Could  we  destroy  her  commerce  and  so  cut 
off"  her  revenue  ?  Then  Cobden  marshals  his  great  store 
of  evidence  to  show  that  the  Protectionist  policy  of 
Russia,  injurious  in  so  many  ways,  had  this  single  advan- 
tage,   that    it    made   her    virtually    self-sufficing    for    all 

138 


Peace  and   Recovery 

necessary  supplies,  so  that  the  most  complete  blockade 
could  not  reduce  her  to  submission.  The  internal  com- 
munications of  Russia  by  land  and  river,  and  the  wide 
distribution  of  her  foods  and  other  necessary  supplies  in 
the  interior,  conspired  to  render  our  blockade  almost 
valueless.  Cobden  turns  next  to  what  we  should  call 
the  psychological  factor,  especially  the  patriotic  sentiment 
of  Russians  and  the  powerful  religious  feeling  with  which 
it  is  associated.  While  it  is,  he  contends,  a  great  delusion 
to  attribute  to  the  Russians  any  desire  to  overrun  any 
part  of  Western  Europe,  or  to  pursue  any  purely  aggres- 
sive policy,  an  invasion  of  their  territory,  even  of  the 
Crimea,  will  be  resisted  with  the  utmost  obstinacy. 
Their  Eastern  "  missions  to  regain  for  their  religion  the 
ascendancy  over  these  neighbouring  countries  which  were 
formerly  under  a  Christian  Government,  and  where  a 
large  portion  of  the  population  are  still  Christians,"  he 
distinguishes  from  the  general  aggressive  designs  imputed 
to  them. 

Having  thus  dealt  with  the  material  and  moral 
resources  at  their  disposal  for  resisting  our  "  will  to 
victory,"  he  addresses  himself  to  the  question  of  finance. 
By  a  close  analysis  of  her  financial  situation,  and  of  the 
Government  banking  system,  he  shows  that  her  incon- 
vertible  paper  currency,  though  fundamentally  vicious, 
will  enable  Russia  to  avoid  for  several  years  to  come 
anything  in  the  nature  of  a  financial  crash,  a  depreciated 
currency  being  far  less  ruinous  to  an  agricultural  country 
like  Russia  than  to  a  more  wealthy  mercantile  or  manu- 
facturing nation,  such  as  England  or  Holland.  On  the 
other  hand,  our  financial  troubles  must  accumulate  rapidly 
if  we  are  to  pour  in  fresh  streams  of  English  and  French 
soldiers  with  their  supplies  of  food,  clothing  and  trans- 
port, for  a  campaign  of  invasion.  Cobden  sees  a  growing 
difficulty  in  furnishing  the  men.     Our  tough  agricultural 

139 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

stuff  is  very  limited,  and  townsmen,  not  the  best  material 
for  such  a  task,  can  only  be  got  by  letting  down  our 
productive  trades  and  disorganizing  the  delicate  mechan- 
ism of  a  subdivided  industry.  "No,  a  manufacturing 
community  is  of  all  others  the  least  adapted  for  great 
military  enterprises,  like  that  in  which  we  have  embarked." 
Our  Government  and  people  are  not  sufficiently  united 
and  excited  by  a  sense  of  vital  interests  or  religious 
enthusiasm,  to  be  willing  to  bear  such  burdens  as  would 
be  involved  in  a  war  to  a  finish  under  the  circumstances 
he  has  described. 

In  conclusion,  he  answers  the  challenge,  "  What  would 
you  do,  if  you  were  the  Government  ?  '  by  a  definite 
summary  of  European  policy.  He  would  withdraw 
every  British  soldier  from  Russian  territory,  and  would 
resort  to  the  policy  adopted  at  the  outset  of  the  negotia- 
tions, of  appealing  first  to  Germany  and  Austria,  the 
most  interested  parties,  to  join  us,  not  in  the  war  against 
Russia,  but  in  constituting  a  European  bulwark  against 
Russian  aggression  by  means  of  treaty  arrangements 
which  would  bring  into  being  a  "  federation  of  the  States 
of  Europe." 

"  I  should  appeal  not  only  to  Germany,  but  to  all  the 
States,  small  as  well  as  great,  of  the  Continent,  for  such 
a  union  as  would  prevent  the  possibility  of  any  act  of 
hostility  from  the  common  enemy.  This  is  the  work 
of  peace  ;  and  to  this  end,  with  the  view  and  responsi- 
bilities of  the  Government,  I  should  address  myself." 
tl  Finally.  Not  to  incur  the  charge  of  vagueness,  I  would 
not  risk  the  life  of  an  Englishman,  or  spend  another 
shilling,  for  the  chance  of  the  barren  triumphs  of  extort- 
ing pacific  pledges  from  the  Russian  Government  ;  and 
having  come  to  this  determination  there  would  no  longer 
be  an  obstacle  to  peace."  1 

1   "  Political  Writings,"  p.  534. 
I40 


Peace  and   Recovery 

Some  of  Cobden's  early  letters  this  year  were  much 
concerned  with  the  effective  publication  of  this  pamphlet. 
But  in  March  the  daily  newspaper  the  Morning  Star, 
controlled  by  persons  friendly  to  his  political  and  eco- 
nomic views,  began  its  career,  and  Cobden,  though  not 
financially  interested,  was  recognized  as  its  chief  adviser. 
He  took  the  position  very  seriously,  and  having  more 
leisure  on  his  hands  than  usual,  spent  much  thought  in 
directing  its  activities  both  on  the  political  and  business 
side.  Mr.  Richard  was  from  the  start  one  of  its  chief 
leader-writers,  dealing  with  foreign  policy  and  kindred 
topics,  and  Cobden  poured  through  him  a  constant  stream 
of  information,  opinions  and  interpretation  or  events. 
He  was  much  concerned  to  preserve  the  paper  from  too 
close  identification  with  the  extreme  pacifist  party  and 
to  make  it  a  good  general  newspaper,  correcting  the 
errors  of  what  he  called  the  "  capitalist  "  Press  and  yet 
appealing  to  the  business  interests  by  sound  commercial 
and  financial  intelligence.  Most  of  his  communications 
were  made  to  Mr.  Richard,  though  he  was  also  in  con- 
stant though  less  confidential  relations,  first  with  Mr. 
Haly,  who  acted  for  a  short  time  as  editor,  afterwards 
with  Mr.  Hamilton,  who  took  his  place.  Sometimes  he 
sent  items  of  political  or  even  personal  news,  but  for  the 
most  part  his  letters  contained  either  the  material  for  a 
leading  article,  or  advice  upon  the  conduct  of  the  paper. 
Writing  on  July  25th  he  says,  "I  can  often  give  you 
rapid  hints  for  an  article  without  any  trouble  to  myself 
if  I  know  that  my  own  language  is  not  necessarily  to  be 
printed.  When  writing  for  the  Press  I  am  beset  with  a 
fastidiousness  that  almost  paralyses  my  fingers."  It  is, 
however,  pretty  clear  that  many  of  the  Star  articles  were 
in  substance  and  even  in  literal  composition  Cobden's, 
with  some  slight  editing.  One  letter  (December)  con- 
tains what  is  avowedly  designed  as  an  article  dealing  with 

141 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

the  delicate  subject  of  Prince  Albert's  supposed   "influ- 
ence" upon  foreign  policy  in  the  German  interest. 

"  January  16,  1856. 
"  The  worst  case  by  far  of  critical  profligacy,  or  of  the 
profligacy  of  criticism,  which  I  have  met  with,  is  in  the 
Leeds  Mercury,  which  I  found  here  on  my  return  home. 
I  send  it  to  you,  and  you  will  see  that  the  rascal,  whoever 
he  may  be,  has  passed  sentence  on  my  pamphlet  without 
avowedly  having  seen  it,  and  has  taken  its  character  at 
secondhand  from  The  Times !  I  have  written  to  Baines, 
assuming  that  he  did  not  write  it,  for  another  reason,  that 
the  article  condemns  the  plan  of  a  mutual  and  pro  rata 
reduction  of  naval  armaments  which  he  again  and  again 
publicly  approved.  But  I  have  told  him  in  as  strong 
language  as  I  can  find  what  I  think  of  the  conduct  of  his 
paper.  I  still  think  you  ought  to  have  a  sub-committee 
in  Yorkshire  to  look  up  Baines's  sayings  on  the  war. 
There  is  an  article  in  The  Times  of  yesterday  that  out- 
herods  Herod.  In  the  very  same  column  it  takes  credit 
for  the  policy  of  fighting  for  Germany  and  Scandinavia, 
and  threatens  to  throw  them  to  the  "  bear  "  unless  they 
now  fight  their  own  battles  !  Then  mark  the  art  with 
which  the  whole  object  of  the  article  is  brought  in  as  it 
were  incidentally  where  it  assumes  that  nearly  all  that  the 
Western  Powers  want  is  ended  !  Now  what  is  the  mean- 
ing of  this?  Does  the  paper  know  Louis  Napoleon  is 
decided  for  peace  and  The  Times  is  wriggling  on  to  the 
new  ground  ?      Read  that  article  again." 

"January  18,  1856. 

"  Many    thanks     for    your    kindness    in    sending    me 

the   latest   news.      I   am   sure   The  Times   has  misled    the 

Stock    Exchange,   and    that    the    Morning    Post    has    the 

more  correct  account  in  saying  that   Russia  has  accepted 

142 


Peace  and   Recovery 

the  propositions  as  a  basis  for  negotiations.  Of  course 
she  would  any  terms.  But  if  The  Times  plays  this 
game,  it  may  be  that  we  shall  see  its  influence  a  little 
impaired  before  long.  I  am  still  of  the  old  opinion  that 
Louis  Napoleon  is  quite  as  much  alarmed  at  the  future 
as  the  Russian  Government,  and  it  is  he  that  will  force 
us  to  peace.  I  feel  pretty  certain  it  will  come,  but  not 
in  a  way  to  afford  a  triumph  to  our  papers.  They 
will  have  a  very  difficult  game  to  plav." 

'•'■January  24,  1856. 
"  Peace  will  come  not  through  the  good  sense  of  the 
English  Government  or  people  ;  but  in  spite  of  them. 
I  feel  no  doubt  that  Louis  Napoleon  has  made  up  his 
mind  for  some  time  to  this  course.  That  was  known  to 
the  initiate  on  the  Paris  Bourse,  and  hence  the  way  in 
which  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Bank  were  sustained  in  spite  of  adverse 
appearances  on  the  face  of  the  French  finance.  I  have 
no  doubt  that,  to  use  a  vulgar  phrase,  Louis  Napoleon 
1  tipped  the  wink  '  to  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg, 
through  Baron  Subach  (Saxon  Minister  at  Paris  and  of 
course  go-between  for  the  Russian  Government),  as  much 
as  to  say,  Let  us  get  into  a  peace  conference,  and  I  will 
•  make  things  pleasant.'  In  spite  of  the  bluster  of  The 
Times  we  must  go  where  he  pleases  to  lead,  for  what 
would  leaded-leaders  do  for  us  in  the  Crimea  if  the 
French  bayonets  were  withdrawn  ?  Press  and  people 
in  England  will  have  to  lower  their  tone,  you  will  see, 
for  when  Kars  comes  to  be  set  off  against  some  of  the 
terms  in  the  Austrian  protocols,  there  will  be  precious 
little  left  to  fulfil  the  predictions  of  the  fighting  party 
in  this  country.  Is  there  a  rational  man  even  among 
our  War  Party  that  will  say  that  England  has  gained 
anything  in  prestige  or  glory  by  what  has  occurred  since 

*43 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

the  last  Vienna  Conference  ?  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  there  any  one  out  of  that  party  here  or  abroad  that 
will  not  admit  that  we  have  lost  caste  even  in  military 
rank,  and  disgraced  ourselves  by  the  barbarities  of 
Kutch,  etc.?" 

"May  21,  1856. 
"  I  do  not  know  that  any  good  can  follow  it,  and 
therefore  I  am  sorry  to  trouble  you,  but  if  you  would 
learn  from  Cash  on  what  day  my  pamphlet  '  How 
Wars  are  got  up  in  India  '  was  published,  and  look 
into  The  Times  of  a  day  or  two  after  you  will  see  an 
article  strongly  condemnatory  of  the  Burmese  War*.  If 
you  will  take  an  extract  or  two  from  it  and  publish  it 
in  the  Herald  (there  is,  I  suppose,  no  other  organ  of 
the  Press  sufficiently  in  earnest),  alongside  of  the  en- 
closed extract  on  the  same  subject  from  last  Thursday's 
Times,  I  should  like  to  see  them  in  juxtaposition.  But 
cut  bono  ?  you  may  ask.  I  really  can't  answer  your 
question.  I  should  advise  no  one  who  did  not  wish 
to  reap  the  disappointment  which  Burke  so  feelingly 
confesses  at  the  close  of  his  career  to  meddle  with 
Indian  politics  with  a  view  to  the  arresting  of  our 
career  of  spoliation  and  wrong.  Still  it  is  well  that 
there  should  be  the  whisper  of  conscience,  if  only  to 
prevent  it  from  being  said,  that  the  nation  is  unani- 
mously unjust,  and  therefore  I  am  always  glad  to  read 
such  truthful  and  home-tr\.\t\\h\\  articles  as  that  in  your 
last  number  against  our  pharisaical  self-sufficiency  and 
self-ignorance." 

"May  27,  1856. 

"  I  wrote  to  Henry  Rawson  a  few  days  ago  and 
advised  him  to  give  the  paper  a  very  decided  tone  in 
favour    of   non-intervention.      I    am    glad    to    hear    that 

144 


Peace  and   Recovery 

your  hand  is  in  it.  Nobody  can  give  the  democratic 
argument  in  favour  of  peace  and  non-intervention  so 
well  as  yourself.  Indeed,  George  Wilson  and  I  agreed, 
whilst  talking  it  over,  that  you  would  make  a  good 
Editor  for  the  paper.  It  seems  to  me  that  now  is 
a  most  opportune  time  for  taking  up  the  principle 
of  non-intervention,  for  everybody  seems  at  sea  on 
foreign  politics  without  rudder  or  compass.  Every- 
one is  dissatisfied  with  the  past  and  nobody  has  a 
standing  ground  of  principle  for  the  future,  excepting 
the  advocates  of  non-intervention.  What  can  be  more 
absurd  and  illogical  than  the  hue  and  cry  raised  about 
Italian  politics  ?  The  French  Government  having 
violated  the  rights  of  independence  in  Rome,  and 
Austria  in  Bologna,  and  Sardinia  by  way  of  putting 
herself  wrong  in  principle  having  a  corporal's  guard 
in  possession  of  Monaco,  it  is  proposed  by  France 
(apparently)  that  there  should  be  an  interference  in 
Naples — the  only  part  of  Italy  excepting  Piedmont  where 
foreigners  are  not  in  possession  of  the  country.  And  of 
course  the  Press  of  this  country,  being  the  great  gobc- 
mouche  of  the  day,  following  the  false  trail,  raises  the 
cry  against  the  King  of  Naples — instead  of  telling 
France  and  Austria  to  recall  their  troops  from  Italian 
soil,  and  the  Sardinians  their  corporal's  guard  from 
Monaco,  and  to  leave  the  Italians  to  settle  matters  with 
their  own  Governments.  Now  this  is  the  line  for  the 
Star  to  take — not  feebly  and  occasionally,  but  boldly 
and  systematically.  The  principle  of  non-intervention, 
as  a  right  of  the  people  everywhere  to  self-government, 
is  the  line  the  Star  should  take.  If  the  people  fall  into 
anarchy,  that  is  their  affair,  and  they  will  be  all  the 
more  eager  to  come  to  an  agreement  upon  some  form 
of  government — for  order  is  not  only  the  first  law 
but  the  greatest  necessity    of   our    nature.     I   told    Hy. 

145  K 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Rawson,  too,  that  I  would  take  advantage  of  the  ex- 
posures of  the  betting  world  in  Palmer's  trial  '  to 
exclude  betting  news  from  the  Star,  and,  not  only  so, 
but  systematically  attack  the  betting  system  and  expose 
the  practices  and  denounce  the  haunts  of  these  pests  of 
society  whether  they  live  in  the  atmosphere  of  West 
End  clubs  or  the  back  slums  of  St.  Giles.  The  Star 
will  never  have  the  patronage  of  these  people,  and  it 
must  make  itself  the  organ  of  moral  reformers  of 
every    national    kind." 

"May  31,  1856. 
"  I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  Stars.  Your  vigorous 
pen  has  vastly  improved  the  quality  of  the  writing. 
Let  me  suggest  to  you  now  to  let  the  dead  bury  the 
dead,  so  far  as  the  Russian  war  is  concerned,  and 
not  to  bore  people  about  it  (excepting  in  reference  to 
the  state  of  Turkey)  but  to  give  your  study  to  that 
which  is  really  of  vital  practical  importance  —  the 
American  question.  The  Star  ought  to  take  the  lead 
in  denouncing  the  complications  which  have  led  to  our 
difficulties,  and  in  blaming  the  governing  class  of  this 
country  who  are  really  responsible  for  every  diplomatic 
entanglement.  I  say  the  governing  class — for  a  score 
or  two  of  families  have  had  possession  of  the  Cabinet 
during  the  last  thirty  years,  and  have  had  absolute 
control  over  our  foreign  relations.  To  deal  with  effect 
with  the  American  difficulties  you  must  separate  the 
two  disputes,  and  point  out  to  your  readers,  so  clearly 
that  they  can  understand  it,  the  difference.  Lord 
Clarendon  talks  a  great  deal  about  the  enlistment  difficulty. 
Now  I  know  that  there  is  no  fear  in  any  quarter  of 
war  arising  out  of  that  question.  The  utmost  that 
can  arise  is  that  the  President  will  give  Mr.  Crampton 
1  The  famous  Rugeley  murder  case, 
I46 


Peace  and   Recovery 

his  passport,  and  withdraw  the  exsequatur  from  three 
or  four  Consuls.  The  business  of  the  embassy  will 
be  carried  on  by  a  secretary  quite  as  well  as  now  ; 
there  will  be  a  little  diplomatic  pouting  as  has  often 
been  the  case  between  European  Governments,  and 
then  some  other  Minister  will  be  named.  In  fact,  we, 
being  in  the  wrong,  shall  pocket  the  affront.  As  to 
the  Consuls,  our  merchants  will  take  care  that  no 
interruption  to  their  business  arises  out  of  the  neglect 
to   appoint  fresh   ones. 

"  The  real  difficulty  is  with  Central  American  affairs, 
and  this  arises  not  merely  out  of  the  disputed  construc- 
tion    of    the     Clayton-Bulwer    Treaty,    but    from     the 
complications    which    the    progress    of   American    traffic 
and    adventure    has    imported    into    the   question.     You 
must  take  a  good  map — for  it  requires  a  good  one   to 
find  out    the  mighty  territorial    interests    for  which    we 
are    embroiling  ourselves  with  the  most   powerful   State 
in     America  —  and    study    the    geography    of    Central 
America.     The  last  edition  of  the  maps  of  the  Society 
for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge  will  suffice.     You 
will    see   the  English  possessions   marked    red.     Now,   I 
have    talked  the  matter    over  with  Sir   H.  Bulwer  who 
signed  the  treaty.      There  is  no  danger  about  our  claim 
on    Belize,    Ruatan    and    the    Bay  Islands.     That  would 
keep.     But    the    real    difficulty   and  danger    are    in    our 
claim  to  the  protectorate  of  the  Mosquito  Coast.     We 
have  set  up  a  king  of  Mosquitia — a  savage  chief  whom 
we  took  to    Jamaica  to  crown  and  anoint  and  then  set 
up    as    '  his    majesty  '    over    a    few  thousand    wandering 
uncivilized  Indians.      Remembering  that  he  is    the   only 
king    of   the  Western    Hemisphere — that    from    the  icy 
circle  to  Cape    Horn    there   is   but    one    crowned    king, 
and  he  of  Mosquitia  is  the  specimen  of  the  order  which 
England  sets  up  for  the  admiration  of  the  New  World, 

147 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

what  must  be  said  of  our  tact  and  judgment  as  a 
monarchical  nation  !  Of  course  he  is  only  a  puppet 
in  our  hands,  and  virtually  we  are  the  rulers  of  the 
Mosquito  Coast.  Now  the  Americans  refuse  to  acknow- 
ledge the  king  we  have  set  up.  They  refuse  to  call 
Grey  town  anything  but  St.  Juan  (which  is  certainly 
more  euphonious).  And  they  refuse  to  recognize  our 
right  of  sovereignty  over   the   Mosquito   Coast. 

"  The  annexation  of  California  and  the  gold  discoveries 
brought  the  countries  of  Central  America  and  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  into  great  importance,  and  a 
question  which  might  otherwise  have  slumbered  is  now 
likely  to  involve  serious  difficulties  and  dangers  unless 
promptly  settled.  The  great  streams  of  traffic  between 
the  eastern  and  western  shores  of  the  American 
Union  pass  by  two  routes,  first,  the  Nicaragua  Lake, 
and  the  River  St.  John  which  brings  the  passengers 
in  contact  with  the  Mosquito  Territory — and  second, 
the  Panama  Railway.  I  believe  the  latter  was  generally 
preferred.  But  there  arises  the  Walker  complication. 
This  adventurer  penetrates  from  California  into 
Nicaragua,  thinking  that  the  distracted  and  anarchical 
state  of  Central  America  will  afford  an  opportunity  for 
the  display  of  his  virtues.  He  begins  in  Nicaragua 
by  setting  up  a  President  (following  our  example  in 
setting  up  pretenders  in  India)  that  he  may  become 
'  viceroy  over  him.'  This  fellow  seems  to  have  had  no 
friends  in  the  'States.'  He  was  denounced  as  a  pirate. 
Two  things  could  alone  have  made  him  popular — a 
massacre  of  American  prisoners  by  their  opponents  after 
the  old  Spanish  fashion,  or  the  English  Government 
taking  part  against  them.  Both  these  incidents  have 
occurred.  Lord  Clarendon,  foolishly  coquetting  with 
the  Costa  Rican  envoy  here  and  his  qualified  offer  of 
some  musketry,  has  given  Walker  a  party  in  America, 

148 


Peace  and   Recovery 

and  thousands  of  rowdies  will,  if  he  should  hold  his 
own  for  a  few  months  (which  I  pray  he  will  not), 
flock  to  join  him  from  New  Orleans  and  New  York. 
Then  arises  our  danger.  If  these  men  present  them- 
selves on  their  way  to  Nicaragua  at  a  port  in  the 
Mosquito  Territory,  and  we  refuse  to  give  them  the 
right  of  passage,  a  collision  may  take  place,  and  we 
may  some  morning  hear  that  an  American  and  an 
English  ship  have  exchanged  broadsides.  And  when 
our  blood  is  spilt  we  know  how  little  chance  there  is 
for  reason   and  justice. 

"I  began  by  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  our 
governing  class.  What  is  the  use  of  a  privileged 
order  if  not  to  anticipate  and  prevent  such  complica- 
tions as  these  ?  I  have  known  from  successive  American 
Ministers  at  our  Court  during  the  last  eight  or  ten 
years  that  the  Central  American  difficulty  (particularly 
that  of  the  Mosquito  Territory)  would  be  one  day, 
if  not  settled,  a  very  serious  question.  I  alluded  to 
the  subject  in  a  speech  at  Bradford  nearly  seven  years 
ago,  and  it  is  reported  in  the  little  volume  of  my 
speeches.  Now  what  excuse  can  there  be  for  our 
aristocratic  rulers,  who  knew  all  that  was  passing,  not 
having  taken  steps  to  dispose  of  the  difficulty  ?  Our 
interest,  as  everybody  now  knows  and  acknowledges, 
was  and  is  to  clear  out  of  Central  America,  where  we 
could  not  possibly  gain  anything,  but  where  there  was 
every  danger  of  a  collision  with  the  United  States, 
whose  interests  are  great  and  growing  in  consequence 
of  the  increasing  traffic  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  shores  of  the  Union.  From  the  moment  that 
the  Americans  bound  themselves  by  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  Treaty  not  to  occupy  any  territory  in  Central 
America  every  motive  of  even  old-fashioned  state 
rivalry  for  our  retaining  a  hold  on  any  part  of  Central 

•    149 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

America    was     at     an     end.      Every     motive,    whether 
political    or    politico-economical,   prompted  an   abandon- 
ment of  the  miserable  specks  of  islands,  and  still  more 
wretched    protectorates    of  the     Mosquito    Indians — the 
former    might    have    been    given    up    to    Honduras    on 
condition   of   making   them   free    ports ;  and   as  for  the 
Indians,   if   we  could    not  induce    the   Yankee   to   agree 
to  a  joint  protectorate,  better  to  have  bought  them  all 
and   made   them   a  present   of  an  island  of  our  own   in 
the  West  Indies  and  kept  them  for  ever  on  champagne 
and    venison    than  allowed  them    to  be    the   cause   of   a 
war  between  us  and  the  United    States.      I    know  from 
the    highest    authority    that  the  only  real  difficulty  now 
with    our    Government     is    as    to    the   point   of    honour 
towards   the  crowned   and   anointed   savage,   and   all   the 
rest    of   our    '  possessions '    we   could    agree   to   give    up 
to  one  of  the  Central  American  States.      But  how  much 
better   could    all    this    have    been    managed    before   than 
now    during    the    pressure    of   events,    and    whilst    it   is 
known    the    Americans    are    demanding    the    concession. 
Yet  instead  of  our  governing  class  preparing  for  the  with- 
drawal— the  Foreign  Minister  has    been  for  years   trying 
for  a  triumph  in  dialectics  by  proving  that  by  the  treaty 
we  are   not  bound  to  go  !     The   question   for  plain   men 
of    common  sense  was — is  it    not    our    interest  to    clear 
out  of  Central   America?     Every  man    at    headquarters 
now    admits    privately    that    it    is    a    pity    we    ever   had 
any    connection    with    Central    America.     But    why    did 
not    they    act   accordingly  ?     If   there   had    been    a   will 
there    would    have    been   a   way   of   getting  out    of  the 
dilemma.      Why  ?     Because    we    are    not    governed     by 
the    rules    of   common    sense." 

"  June  i,  1856. 
"  I  wrote  the  other   letter   with  loose   hints   upon  the 
Central     American    business     before    I    got    yours    this 

150 


Peace  and   Recovery 

morning.  From  what  I  hear  this  morning  from  a  well- 
informed  friend  in  London  it  is  probable  the  news 
by  the  steamer  to-day  will  be  that  Crampton  has  been 
dismissed.  This  will  cause  a  fall  in  the  Funds,  and  be 
looked  upon  as  of  more  importance  than  it  really  is. 
No  war  will  follow  from  that.  I  hope  you  will  be 
prepared  to  write  an  article  for  the  Star  on  this  subject. 
I  am  writing  to  Mr.  Langley  at  the  Star  office  by  this 
post  to  say  how  important  it  is  that  this  American 
question  should  be  dealt  with  judiciously  and  promptly, 
that  you  can  do  it  better  than  anybody  else  ;  and  let 
me  beg  you  will  without  squeamishness  call  at  the  office 
on  receipt  of  this  and  be  prepared  to  give  them  an 
article  for  Tuesday.  Now  this  is  my  view  of  an 
article.  Keep  the  readers'  mind  fixed  upon  the  fact 
that  the  dismissal  of  Crampton  has  arisen  out  of  the 
Enlistment  and  no  other  question.  That  on  that 
question  our  Government  have  acknowledged  themselves 
to  be  wrong — but,  they  say  they  have  made  apologies 
and  that  the  American  Government  ought  to  have 
been  satisfied.  Very  likely  it  is  so,  and  I  wish  the 
American  Government  had  been  less  exacting.  But,  it 
the  English  people  find  that  they  are  subject  to  a  very 
unpleasant  rebuff  in  the  person  of  their  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  at  Washington,  then  they  must  settle 
the  matter  with  their  own  Government,  which  has  placed 
them  in  such  a  position  as  to  be  obliged  to  put  up 
with  it — for  it  is  out  of  the  question  that  we  who 
acknowledge  ourselves  to  be  wrong  are  to  insist  upon 
deciding  exactly  what  amount  of  atonement  we  shall 
make.  The  Americans  say  they  will  not  have  Mr. 
Crampton  for  a  Minister  at  Washington,  and  we  must 
therefore  find  another.  This  raises  the  question  who 
and  what  is  Mr.  Crampton  !  We  know  who  the 
Ministers  from  the   United   States   to    F^ngland   are,   for 

151 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

they  send  us  their  most  eminent  men.  Mr.  Dallas  has 
been  Vice-President  of  the  Union,  Mr.  Buchanan 
has  been  Foreign  Secretary,  Mr.  Bancroft  was  their 
first  historian,  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence  the  head  of  their 
manufacturing  interest,  and  Mr.  Everett  their  most 
accomplished  scholar.  These  are  the  men  who  are  sent 
by  America  to  represent  her  in  England.  But  who 
is  Mr.  Crampton  ?  We  never  heard  of  his  capacity 
for  public  business,  and  doubt  if  any  public  man  in 
England  ever  heard  of  it.  We  believe  he  is  related 
to  Sir  P.  Crampton,  an  eminent  professional  man  in 
Ireland  who  perhaps  has  influence  with  the  Government. 
But  what  proofs  has  Mr.  Crampton  given  of  his 
capacity  for  business  at  Washington  ?  His  latest 
escapade  we  leave  to  be  decided  by  the  weight  of 
evidence  to  be  brought  on  both  sides  to  solve  a  grave 
question  of  veracity  in  which  he  or  Mr.  Clayton  (the 
signer  of  the  Central  American  treaty)  must  be  found 
guilty  of  falsehood.  But  we  know  by  the  confession 
of  Mr.  Crampton  himself  that  he  forgot  to  read  the 
whole  of  a  letter  of  about  a  score  of  lines  sent  to  him 
by  Lord  Clarendon  last  November — that  it  was  only 
at  the  end  of  January  that  he  bethought  him  to  read 
the  whole  of  it,  when  he  discovered  that  it  contained 
directions  to  submit  the  Central  American  question  to 
arbitration.  Now  a  man  who  can  treat  Lord  Clarendon's 
letters  with  such  slovenly  disrespect  as  this  is  capable 
of  lighting  his  cigar  with  a  Government  dispatch,  or 
doing  any  other  act  of  indiscretion  or  carelessness. 
This  country  cannot  be  at  a  loss  to  find  a  Minister  to 
fill  his  place,  or  if  the  salary  be  saved  and  the  duties 
of  his  office  be  performed  by  a  secretary,  the  diplomatic 
world  will  not  be  a  great  loser.  I  remember  that  on 
a  certain  occasion  when  Sir  Stratford  Canning — now 
Lord    Stratford — was    to    be    sent    to    St.   Petersburg   as 

152 


Peace  and   Recovery. 

Ambassador,  the  late  Emperor  of  Russia  objected  to 
receive  him,  having  an  objection  to  him  personally — 
yet  there  was  no  war  in  consequence  between  England 
and  Russia — nor  is  it  likely  than  anything  more  serious 
will  follow  from  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Crampton.  These 
are  very  rough  ideas  for  an  article  for  Tuesday,  whether 
the  news  comes  of  Mr.  Crampton's  dismissal  or  not. 
For  if  he  be  not  dismissed  the  probability  will  be  very 
good  grounds  for  an   article." 

"  June  (?). 

"  I  have  not  seen  the  report  ot  the  trial  in  America 
which  brought  home  the  complicity  to  Crampton.  But 
it  has  always  appeared  that  we  labour  under  this  dis- 
advantage, in  denouncing  the  untrust  worthiness  of 
Hertz  and  Strobel,  that  they  were  our  own  agents.  The 
only  course  to  take  in  my  opinion  is  to  denounce  the 
Government  and  the  governing  class,  and  The  Times 
and  other  papers,  such  as  the  Economist  and  Examiner, 
which  are  mixed  up  with  the  Government,  deserve  no 
better  handling.  You  ask  whether  I  would  abandon 
Central  America  altogether.  There  is  not  a  man  at 
headquarters  who  would  not  be  glad  if  we  had  never 
set  foot  there,  or  who  does  not  know  that  by  one  means 
or  another  we  must  abandon  all  claim  to  possession  or 
protectorate,  or  ultimately  be  driven  out  with  discredit. 
In  private,  all  our  leading  public  men  hold  but  one 
language — -that  we  have  no  interest  in  Central  America, 
and  the  sooner  we  get  rid  of  all  connection  with  that 
region  of  earthquakes  and  volcanoes  the  better.  But 
in  public,  and  in  their  endless  diplomatic  dispatches, 
they  contend  for  possession  of  every  rock  and  islet 
as  if  they  were  of  the  utmost  value.  This  is  the  dis- 
honesty of  our  public  men.  Lord  Palmerston's  policy 
must    be    attacked.      He    is    the    most    responsible    man. 

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Richard   Cobdea  :   The  International  Man 

Buchanan  says  in  one  of  his  letters  that  he  could  have 
settled  the  matter  with  Lord  Aberdeen.  The  Post 
and  Times  are  really  now  making  us  more  contemptible 
than  ever.  After  holding  the  most  bullying  and  in- 
sulting language,  after  telling  the  Americans  that  we 
were  ready  to  fight,  threatening  to  blockade  their  ports 
and  burn  their  towns  and  Heaven  knows  what  besides — 
and  pointing  to  our  fifty  line-of-battle  ships  and  three 
hundred  gunboats,  now  that  the  Americans  are  going 
to  send  away  our  Minister,  they  are  telling  us  not  to 
be  indignant,  but  to  be  cool  and  pocket  the  affront, 
and  yet  all  the  time  assuring  us  that  we  have  been 
most  insolently  and  unjustly  treated  by  that  Govern- 
ment. Now  the  proper  way  to  turn  the  tables  is  to 
tell  the  Government  and  their  organs  of  the  Press  that, 
if  we  were  to  put  up  with  all  the  wrong  and  outrage 
they  tell  us  Mr.  Pierce  and  his  Government  are  heaping 
on  us,  we  should  indeed  be  inviting  injustice  and  in- 
sult. But  that  it  is  not  so,  that  as  between  Pierce 
and  Palmerston  the  former  is  more  in  the  right  than 
the  wrong — perhaps  altogether  in  the  right,  and  that 
is  why  our  Government  submit  so  quietly  to  the  dis- 
missal of  their  Minister.  But  the  English  people  must 
come  to  a  reckoning  with  their  own  bungling  ministers, 
unless  indeed  they  are  willing  to  adopt  all  their  blunders 
and  follies,  and  confess  that  they  are  at  the  end  of 
their  muster-roll  of  statesmen  and  that  Palmerston  is 
the  despotic  necessity  of  the  time,  and  then  we  must 
be  content  to  pocket  the  insults  heaped  upon  him, 
and  consent  as  a  people  to  be  branded  as  braggarts  and 
cowards." 

"June  15,  1856. 
"  Up   to   the   moment   when   I    left   I   could  not  learn 
whether    the    Government    would    or     would     not    send 
away   Dallas.     They    are,    I    suppose,    wavering,    and    to 

154 


Peace  and   Recovery 

judge  by  The  Times  and  Post  are  likely  to  'eat  the 
leek.'  In  any  case,  it  will  place  the  Palmerston  Govern- 
ment in  peril,  and  the  '  parties'  in  the  House  are  be- 
ginning to  scent  the  carcass.  But  we  of  the  Star  have 
no  object  but  peace,  and  if  Dallas  be  not  dismissed, 
and  the  offer  of  arbitration  be  accepted,  it  will  close 
the  American  difficulty.  If  there  be  any  vengeance  due 
for  the  past  misdeeds  of  the  present  Cabinet,  that  may 
be  left  to  the  tender  mercy  of  political  opponents.  I 
see  Little  Lord  John  is  moving.  Pray  see  that 
the  Star  does  not  needlessly  play  into  his  hands.  He 
was  more  responsible  for  the  mad  popularity  of  the 
Russian  war  than  anybody.  And  I  would  not  trust 
him  to  keep  the  peace  for  a  day  with  America  it  he 
could  gain  power  by  a  war  with   her. 

"  I  suggested  that  a  public  meeting  should  be  called. 
If  so,  I  hope  you  will  arrange  the  resolutions  and  speak 
to  one  of  them.  You  will  of  course  take  the  same 
line  as  in  the  Star.  Throw  overboard  Crampton  and 
his  backers  on  the  Enlistment  Question,  and  go  for 
arbitration  on  Central  American  affairs.  In  speaking 
of  a  public  meeting,  it  is  on  the  assumption  of  course 
that  the  final  decision  of  the  Government  as  to  Dallas 
is  still  hanging  in  the  balance.  If  the  desperadoes  at 
headquarters  should  send  away  Dallas,  then  '  war  to 
the  knife  '  must  be  the  cry  of  the  Peace  Party  against 
the  present  Ministry.  If  it  be  known  on  the  contrary 
that  they  have  resolved  not  to  retaliate  in  that  way, 
it  will  take  the  edge  off  your  meeting.  By  the  way, 
in  dealing  with  the  question  of  Crampton's  dismissal, 
show  how  the  oligarchical  dislike  of  the  democratic 
power  peeps  out.  We  were  not  so  stiff  with  Autocratic 
Russia,  or  even  wretched  Monarchical  Spain,  under 
somewhat  similar  circumstances,  for  when  Nicholas 
objected     to    receive     Sir     Stratford     Canning     as    our 

155 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Ambassador,  we  yielded  and  threw  him  over.  And 
when  the  Spanish  Government  sent  away  Sir  H.  Bulwer 
on  personal  grounds,  we  submitted." 

"June  17,  1856. 

"  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  Cabinet  have  resolved 
to  throw  overboard  Crampton.  The  Times  follows  suit, 
and  will  be  ready  evidently  to  fling  the  Government  after 
him  if  necessary.  What  a  disgusting  exhibition  of  bully- 
ing in  the  first  place,  and  when  that  fails,  of  mean  evasion, 
our  newspapers  are  making  !  Do  not  fail  to  rub  the  nose 
of  The  Times  in  its  former  articles.  The  country  Press, 
which  to  a  considerable  extent  follows  the  lead  of  The 
Times,  is  really  to  be  pitied — for  they  have  to  write  once 
a  week  only,  and  during  that  time  their  leader  sometimes 
throws  two  or  three  somersaults.  The  braggart  Press 
must  be  made  to  eat  dirt,  as  the  only  mode  of  putting 
the  country  in  a  right  position  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
—  for  if  we  do  not  avow  that,  so  far  as  the  journals  have 
hitherto  represented  the  facts  of  the  case  and  the  opinion 
of  the  public,  thev  have  been  entirely  wrong  and  the 
Americans  right,  what  can  be  said  of  our  'honour'  in 
submitting  now  to  insult  and  injustice  ?  We  must  throw 
over  our  Government,  Times,  etc.,  as  the  only  way  of 
proving  that  we  are  not  now  a  mean-spirited  and  craven 
people  in  allowing  our  Minister,  who  according  to  them 
was  in  the  right,  to  be  returned  on  our  hands.  If  the 
Government  have  pocketed  the  affront  the  American 
Question  is  of  course  settled,  excepting  in  so  far  as  there 
will  be  a  reckoning  between  the  'ins'  and  the  'outs.' 
But  there  is  no  party  which  can  in  my  time  govern  this 
country  for  whose  advent  to  office  I  would  care  to  take 
the  trouble  of  walking  down   Parliament  Street. 

"The  British  Liberals  should  be  told  plainly  that, 
apart  from  the  merit  of  any  dispute  our  Government  may 

156 


Peace  and   Recovery 

have  with  that  of  Washington,  there  is  always  a  latent 
instinct  at  work  in  the  breasts  of  our  aristocratic  ruling 
class,  which  seeks  to  estrange  the  two  countries  as  much 
as  possible,  and  to  render  the  Americans  the  object  of 
dislike,  fear  or  suspicion  to  the  English  people.  Our 
so-called  Radical  politicians  fall  pell-mell  into  this  trap, 
and  here  you  see  such  papers  as  the  Dispatch  and  Sun 
howling  to  the  same  tune  as  the  Post  and  Times." 

"June  18,  1856. 
"  I   doubt    the   policy   of  admitting  that  the   Ministry 
have  saved  themselves  (I  allude  to  the  first  words  of  the 
Summary   in    yesterday's   Star  :    '  Lord    Palmerston    has 
saved  himself '),  for  the  conclusion  I  have   come  to,  after 
thinking  the  matter  calmly  over,  is  that,  for  the  honour 
of  the  country  and  the  dignity  of  the    Ministry   them- 
selves, the  proper  course  for  them  to  take  is  to  resign. 
That  would  save  the  nation  a  humiliation,  and  would  be 
more  dignified  on  the  part  of  the  Cabinet  than  to  throw 
overboard  their  representative  and  cling  to  office,  whilst 
the  ink  is  hardly  dry  in  which  they  have  justified  his  very 
act,  and  when  they  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say  (as  Lord 
Clarendon  did  in  one  of  his  speeches)  that  neither  inten- 
tionally nor  unintentionally  (I  think  he  said  '  neither  by 
accident  nor  design')  had   Mr.  Crampton    infringed  the 
laws  of  the    United   States.      But   I   am   quite   sure   you 
ought  not  to  commit  us  to  Baxter's  qualified  amendment, 
approving  the  tone  of  Lord  Clarendon's  correspondence — 
that  correspondence  is    quite    indefensible,    if   Crampton 
is  to  be   thrown   overboard,   for   its   whole   object   was  to 
justify  him. 

"By  the  way,  young  Baxter,  who  comes  of  a  good 
Free  Trade  stock  in  Dundee,  and  has  some  talent  with 
a  little  too  much  self-esteem,  is  the  same  who,  in  second- 
ing the  Address,  went  out  of  his  way  to  attack  the  Peace 

157 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Party  at  the  opening  of  the  Session,  when  he  was  sure  of 
gaining  the  applause  of  the  military  party  in  the  House, 
and  who  declared  that  we,  the  Peace  Party,  would  not 
have  been  safe  if  we  had  gone  to  preach  our  doctrines  in 
his  boroughs.  A  gentle  rap  on  his  knuckles,  or  rather 
a  little  quiet  advice,  would  do  him  good,  and  show  that 
we  intend  to  act  on  the  Scotch  motto  that  nobody  will 
touch  us  hostilely  with  impunity.  He  should  be  advised 
to  keep  steadily  in  view  the  example  of  his  great  pre- 
decessor, Mr.  Hume,  who  never  allowed  himself  to  be 
used  by  the  Government  or  aristocratic  parties,  but  who 
kept  himself  free  and  independent  amidst  the  rise  and 
fall  of  a  score  of  administrations.  There  is  one  cardinal 
principle  of  his  predecessor's  political  life  which  should 
be  especially  commended  to  his  imitation — that  which 
guarded  him  from  ever  separating  himself  on  light 
grounds  from  those  who  generally  agreed  with  him  and 
who  had  the  same  public  objects  in  view.  If  for  the  sake 
of  catching  the  cheers  of  a  military  party  in  the  House 
he  goes  out  of  his  way  to  attack  those  whom  he  called  the 
Peace  Party,  he  is  separating  himself  from  men  with  whom 
he  will  find  himself  voting  in  the  same  lobby  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten—unless  the  politics  of  his  constituents  have 
changed  since  Mr.  Hume  represented  them.  By  the 
way,  apropos  of  Baxter  (who  has  travelled  in  the  States 
and  published  some  lectures  on  the  country),  you  heard 
J.  B.  Smith  state  that  he  (Baxter)  said  he  witnessed  the 
folly  of  Crampton  in  refusing  at  a  public  meeting  to 
uncover  and  stand  up  when  the  national  air  was  sung. 
How  can  he  now  justify  the  correspondence  of  the 
Government   which   identified    them   so   completely   with 

that  silly  person  ?     However 

"  Looking  to  the  state  of  parties  in  the  House  and  the 
way  in  which  The  Times,  etc.,  are  committed,  and  the 
cowardice  of  M.P.'s  under   the   threat  of  a  dissolution, 

158 


Peace  and   Recovery 

I  incline  to  think  they  will  let  Palmerston  go  on  again. 
He  is  a  dangerous  fellow,  and  in  the  case  of  a  strong 
Power  like  America  the  whole  danger  lies  in  the  probable 
humiliation  he  may  bring  on  us.  There  is  one  point 
to  which  I  can  only  refer,  but  will  talk  about  to  you. 
We  must  guard  ourselves  against  being  thought  a  party 
aiming  at  peace  by  any  meansj  and  at  any  price,  and 
without  any  care  for  national  character,  or  what  some 
people  call  '  honour.'  The  fear  of  our  being  so  con- 
sidered came  over  me  as  I  read  the  remarks  in  the  Sum- 
mary yesterday  beginning  '  Lord  Palmerston  has  saved 
himself.'  We  must  show  as  sensitive  regard  for  our 
national  character  as  anybody,  and  I  doubt  whether  we 
do  so  in  meeting  so  great  an  affront  as  the  sending  away 
our  Minister  with  toleration  to  the  Government,  and 
without  saying  that  they  ought  to  resign  in  order  to 
place  the  country  in  an  honourable  attitude  and  themselves 
in  a  graceful  position  towards  the  Americans.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  anybody  would  have  a  better  chance  of 
arranging  the  Central  American  Question  with  the  Ameri- 
cans than  Lord  Palmerston,  whom  they  do  not  like. 
When  Buchanan  said  he  could  have  settled  the  differences 
with  Lord  Aberdeen  in  half  an  hour,  everybody  knew 
that  he  meant  more  than  he  could  express,  and  that  he 
has  a  very  different  opinion  of  his  prospects  with  Lord 
Palmerston.  You  cannot  do  wrong  in  bringing  out 
these  points.  He  never  was  and  never  will  be  our 
Minister. 

"  I  see  no  objection  to  your  denouncing  the  ruffianly 
attack  on  Sumner  ';  I  am  writing  to  him  to  do  so.  But 
I  would  avoid  on  principle  going  into  the  question  of 
their  '  domestic  institutions.'  I  have  always  acted  on  the 
rule  that  non-intervention  should  be  observed  morally  as 
well  as  materially.      I  speak  of  myself  as  a  politician,  and 

«  Cf.  p.  340. 
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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

1  would  observe  the  same  rule  in  the  .Star,  which  is  a 
secular  organ.  Religious  organs  are  different.  In  my 
opinion  you  ought  at  once  to  denounce  the  sending  more 
armed  ships  to  America.  We  doubled  our  force  on  that 
station  in  November  last.  What  good  has  it  done  ? 
What  pretence  have  we  ?  As  to  the  protection  of  our 
interests  in  Central  America,  you  will  perhaps  see  by  the 
article  in  the  Economist  that  we  have  little  interest  there. 
The  Americans  have  not  augmented  their  fleets  in 
Europe,  where  they  have  far  more  trade  than  we  have  with 
all  America.  The  English  people  should  be  told  that 
this  is  only  done  as  an  excuse  for  employing  ships-of-war 
and  furnishing  a  pretence  for  keeping  up  a  large  force. 
There  is  really  no  dignity  in  sending  fleets  and  at  the 
same  time  allowing  the  Americans  to  send  away  our 
Minister." 

">/y9,  1856. 
"  Apropos  of  Italian  affairs,  you  ought  to  be  prepared 
with  a  good  article  to  follow  the  debate  on  Lord  John's 
motion.  The  point  to  press  in  your  argument  is  this  : 
What  does  Lord  John,  and  what  do  our  aristocratic  poli- 
ticians who  have  our  foreign  policy  in  their  hands,  propose 
to  do  ?  Do  they  intend  to  set  up  the  peoples  of  the 
Italian  States  to  force  their  Governments  to  give  them 
Constitutional  freedom  ?  If  so,  are  they  prepared  to 
help  them  ?  No,  a  thousand  times  no,  must  be  the 
answer  of  all  who  know  what  our  Government  is.  But 
the  Italians  may  be  deluded  and  incited  by  the  vague 
reports  of  what  will  reach  them  of  the  proceedings  of 
our  Parliament,  and,  through  our  foolish  Press,  into  pre- 
mature plot  and  insurrection,  which  will  again  lead,  as 
they  have  before,  into  proscription,  exile  and  death. 
Protest  against  such  delusions,  which  betray  ardent 
patriots  to  their  doom   and  lead  only  to  broken  hearts, 

160 


Peace  and   Recovery 

ruined  fortunes  and  every  species  of  misfortune.  But 
our  aristocratic  rulers  will  probably  exert  their  moral 
influence  ivith  the  Government  of  King  Bomba  and  the 
Pope  to  ensure  better  government  !  Does  any  rational 
being  suppose  that  with  the  tone  of  their  Press  and  of 
such  tricky  politicians  as  guide  it  our  Government  will 
have  any  influence  whatever  in  the  way  of  friendly  advice? 
The  truth  is,  it  must  be  again  and  again  told  the  English 
public  and  the  world  that  our  aristocratic  politicians  make 
political  capital  out  of  the  Italians,  Poles,  Circassians,  etc., 
for  purposes  of  their  own,  and  not  with  any  serious  inten- 
tion of  promoting  liberty  anywhere.  And  this  game  will 
go  on  so  long  as  the  English  public  allow  them  to  parade 
their  sympathies  for  the  grievances  of  foreigners  instead 
of  doing  the  work  of  liberty  at  home." 

"July  10,  1856. 
"  When  does  the  Reform  Club  banquet  to  Williams 
come  off?  Either  on  that  or  some  other  occasion  you 
should  read  a  lecture  to  our  so-called  Liberals  and 
Reformers  upon  their  warlike  and  military  tendency. 
They  ought  to  be  rallied  in  good  round  terms.  The 
Reform  Club  seems  to  have  grown  more  martial  than 
the  United  Service.  One  would  have  thought  that  their 
escapade  with  Charley  Napier  would  have  been  enough 
in  that  line.  But  to  what  is  all  this  to  lead  ?  What  is 
the  policy,  what  the  principles  of  the  Reform  Party  ? 
We  know  what  the  professed  principles  of  the  Whigs 
were  down  to  the  time  of  their  advent  to  power  in  1830. 
Peace,  economy  and  non-intervention  were  the  words 
inscribed  on  Lord  Grey's  banner.  We  know  that  the 
leaders  of  the  Whig  Party  had  for  half  a  century  de- 
nounced the  military  tendency  of  the  Government  ;  and 
at  the  close  of  the  E^rench  War  they  advocated  a  reduction 
of  our  army  down  to  the  old  constitutional  standard  with 

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Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

a  vehemence  quite  refreshing  to  those  who  study  the 
pages  of  Hansard  from  1 8 1 6  to  1822.  Not  only  did  the 
leading  Whigs — Grey,  Tierney,  Mackintosh,  Brougham, 
Lord  John  Russell,  etc.,  denounce  the  large  standing  army 
of  the  day  (much  less,  by  the  way,  than  now),  such  states- 
men as  the  Marquis  Wellesley  and  Lord  Grenville  joined 
in  the  same  tone.  It  is  true  the  Whigs  have  turned 
round  upon  their  followers  and  are  now  worse  than  the 
Tories,  but  what  are  the  principles  of  the  so-called  Inde- 
pendent Liberals  ?  There  were  formerly  eighty  to  one 
hundred  men  in  the  House  who  professed  to  be  more 
economical,  liberal  and  progressive  than  either  the  Whigs 
or  Tories.  Where  are  they  now  and  what  are  their 
principles  ?  Are  they  represented  by  this  frenzied  spirit 
of  hero-worship  and  love  of  military  glory  exhibited  at 
the  Reform  Club  ?  If  so,  do  they  think  they  are  in  the 
track  of  peace,  economy  or  non-intervention  ?  They  are 
playing  the  game  of  aristocracy,  privilege,  high  taxation 
and  all  their  attendant  evils  to  the  millions  whose  interests 
they  profess  to  serve." 

"July  18,  1856. 
c<  The  Times,  with  its  Cockney  ignorance,  in  an  article 
yesterday  on  Emigration  winds  up  by  expressing  a  hope 
that  the  emigrants  in  future  will  go  to  Canada  and  not 
swell  the  number  of  our  enemies  in  the  States,  as  if  their 
feelings  to  us  would  be  different  wherever  they  might 
be.  I  should  not  write  a  long  article  on  the  Canadian 
view  of  the  question,  but  still  people  might  be  told  to 
pause  and  inquire  before  they  assumed  that  the  Canadians 
would  fight  for  our  diplomatic  blunderers  as  if  they  had 
an  interest  in  the  matter.  The  point  you  mention  of  the 
Canadians  having  talked  of  sending  a  representative  to 
Washington  is  significant,  as  showing  which  way  they 
think  their  interests  are  gravitating.     In  fact,  since  a  free 

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Peace  and   Recovery 

trade  in  native  produce  has  been  established  between  Canada 
and  the  States,  there  is  far  more  intercourse  between  America 
and  Canada  than  between  us  and  Canada.  We  must  show 
better  reasons  than  the  support  of  our  diplomatists  in 
their  chicanery,  in  which  Canada  has  no  voice,  before  she 
will  embark  in  a  war  with  the  best  customer  at  her 
doors." 

"July  28,  1856. 

"  Put  the  enclosed  into  your  own  language.  I  have 
purposely  written  it  on  both  sides  to  compel  you  to 
rewrite  it — for  I  can  often  give  you  rapid  hints  for  an 
article  without  any  trouble  to  myself  if  I  know  that  my 
own  language  is  not  necessarily  to  be  printed.  When 
writing  for  the  Press  I  am  beset  with  a  fastidiousness  that 
almost  paralyses  my  fingers. 

"  What  have  you  done  about  the  Star  editorship  ? 
Let  me  advise  you  always  to  try  to  make  your  articles 
apropos  of  some  topic  of  the  hour — otherwise  they  look 
like  treasured-up  essays,  which  to  daily-paper  readers  always 
seem  misplaced.  For  instance,  a  line  or  two  connecting 
your  article  of  last  week  on  Turkey  with  Layard's  speech 
at  Aylesbury  would  have  invested  it  with  the  prestige  of 
ready  writing.  You  must  come  to  the  democratic  view 
of  the  Peace  Question.  Apropos  of  Spanish  affairs,  it 
might  be  stated  once  for  all  that  the  creed  of  the 
Morning  Star  is  that  where  large  standing  armies  exist 
rational  liberty  cannot  live.  Work  out  this  view  in  a 
succession  of  short,  sharp  articles  all  apropos  of 
something." 

"July  3°>  1856. 
"  I  cannot  too  strongly  express  my  regret  at  the  lan- 
guage used  in  a  letter  in  the  Star  of  yesterday  on  Italian 
affairs.    Gladstone's  pamphlet  is  attacked  and  poor  Poerio 
assailed.     Surely  ordinary  generosity,  if  not  policy,  ought 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to  have  held  the  hand  of  the  writer  when  speaking  of  a 
man  who  is  now  in  a  dungeon  and  in  irons.  Depend  on 
it,  our  principle  of  non-intervention  will  be  suspected  to 
mean  an  alliance  with  despotism  all  over  the  world  if  such 
indiscreet  excuses  for  tyranny  be  allowed  to  have  pro- 
minent place  in  the  paper.     Read  this  to  Hamilton." 

"7*b  31,  1856. 

"  I  am  not  dogmatical  on  the  Education  Question. 
How  could  I  be,  when  I  find  myself  opposed,  on 
economical  grounds,  to  the  opinions  of  Bastiat,  and  to 
yours  in  a  theological  or  ecclesiastical  point  of  view  ? 
But  here  is  my  creed  in  the  matter.  My  political  sym- 
pathies are  with  the  masses.  They  in  this  country  are 
still  under  the  hoof  of  feudalism.  The  middle  class  is  to 
a  large  extent  the  accomplice  of  the  privileged  order,  and 
eager  to  be  admitted  within  its  charmed  circle.  The  only 
chance  for  the  workers  with  their  hands  is  in  their  greater 
intelligence.  Compared  with  the  United  States,  Switzer- 
land, or  any  Protestant  State  there  is  no  population  half 
so  ignorant  as  our  own.  Among  the  other  perversities 
of  Baines  is  his  attempt  to  show  that  we  are  '  not  so 
very  bad,'  and  when  we  adduce  the  large  proportion 
of  married  couples  that  don't  sign  their  names,  he 
argues  that  many  who  can  write  yet  prefer  to  make  a 
mark,  as  if  the  argument  in  the  eye  of  any  unprejudiced 
person  did  not  lean  the  other  way,  and  warrant  the  infer- 
ence that  if  so  large  a  number  cannot  sign  their  names, 
how  much  greater  number  cannot  write  anything  else,  for 
the  pride  of  a  man,  especially  when  being  married — an 
occasion  which  draws  forth  all  his  love  of  approbation — 
would  impel  him  to  write  his  name  even  if  he  could  not 
pen  another  syllable.  Well,  the  ignorance  of  the  English 
masses  being  so  great,  how  is  it  to  be  best  removed  ?  I 
say,  try  the  New  England   machinery — a  local  voluntary 

1 64 


Peace  and   Recovery 

organization  which  has  borne  the  test  of  time  and 
experience  and  has  enabled  its  people  to  govern  itself 
and  prosper.  By  comparison,  our  so-called  voluntaryism 
has  undoubtedly  failed,  and  in  my  opinion,  instead  of 
being  in  the  way  of  making  up  our  lost  ground,  we  are 
being  more  and  more  distanced  in  the  race  every  year.  I 
have  nothing  to  say  for  the  present  system  in  England. 
'But  I  confess  I  can  hardly  see  how  the  question  can  be 
ignored  with  a  view  to  securing  something  better. 
However,  it  is  not  at  present  the  question  before  the 
country. 

"  I  did  not  write  because  I  was  really  not  in  a  position 
to  advise  you,  not  knowing  what  terms  were  to  be  offered. 
I  hope  you  will  undertake  the  office  of  editor-in-chief,  with 
an  absolute  veto  over  the  leading  articles.  And  I  hope 
you  will  be  put  in  a  position  to  exert  an  unquestioned 
authority  in  all  departments  of  the  Star  office.  I  agree  with 
you  as  to  Hamilton's  eccentricities,  and  they  will  grow 
apace  if  he  be  left  to  himself.  But  there  is  so  much 
moral  goodness,  and  such  an  originality  of  genius  and 
power  of  intellect,  about  the  man,  that  it  would  be  deeply 
to  be  lamented  if  he  were  not  utilized  to  the  utmost. 
But  it  will  require  tact  and  gentleness  to  bring  him  back 
to  his  former  post  of  second  in  command.  You  can  do 
this  better  than  anybody  else,  because  he  has  faith  in  your 
sincerity  of  purpose.  Let  him  know  that  if  you  are  put 
at  the  head,  it  has  not  been  from  your  own  seeking  ;  on 
the  contrary,  that  you  have  taken  the  step  with  reluct- 
ance, that  it  is  the  act  of  the  Quakers,  who  wish  not  to  be 
disturbed  about  details  any  more,  but  to  be  able  to  throw 
all  responsibility  on  your  shoulders  as  a  person  whom 
they  know  and  who  they  think  knows  them,  and  what 
will  satisfy  them.  Count  on  my  co-operation  in  every 
possible  way." 


165 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 


"August  i,  1856. 
"  I  observe  the  subject  of  trade  unions  treated  in 
to-day's  Star  paper.  The  desire  of  the  writer  to  speak 
in  a  conciliatory  spirit  to  the  workpeople,  which  is  right, 
leads  him,  I  think,  to  speak  in  a  tone  of  concession  and 
compromise  which  may  be  misinterpreted.  So  far  as  the 
wages  view  of  the  question  goes,  I  think  the  only  sound 
and  honest  course  is  to  tell  the  people  plainly  that  they 
are  under  a  delusion  as  to  their  assumed  power  to  regu- 
late or  permanently  influence  in  the  slightest  degree  by 
coercion  the  rate  of  wages.  They  might  as  well  attempt 
to  regulate  the  tides  by  force,  or  change  the  course  of  the 
seasons,  or  subvert  any  of  the  other  laws  of  nature — for 
the  wages  of  labour  depend  upon  laws  as  unerring  and  as 
much  above  our  coercive  power  as  any  other  operations 
of  nature.  There  is  a  desperate  spirit  of  monopoly  and 
tyranny  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  trade  unions,  for  they 
begin  with  regulating  the  numbers  to  be  brought  up  in 
their  trades,  refusing  to  allow  unlimited  apprenticeship, 
thus  excluding  the  children  of  the  unskilled  labourer 
from  sharing  their  advantages.  Then  how  entirely  they 
ignore  our  foreign  trade,  and  forget  that  liberty  of  com- 
merce which  puts  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  working 
class  of  one  country  to  dictate  the  rate  of  wages  which 
employers  shall  pay.  To  treat  this  question  an  fond  you 
must  have  writers  very  strong  on  political  economy,  and 
yet  do  not  let  them  write  in  the  abstruse  technical  and 
unsympathizing  style  of  some  of  these  political  econo- 
mists. It  is  not  enough  to  show  that  the  labourers  are 
wrong  in  their  particular  efforts  to  improve  their  con- 
dition, but  we  must  show  that  we  are  their  friends  and 
try  to  point  out  to  them  on  what  their  welfare  really 
rests  ;  and  this  opens  up  the  whole  field  of  social  and 
political    questions,  including  our  own    Peace   Question. 

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Peace  and  Recovery 

For  it  might  be  shown  that  it  is  impossible  to  waste 
a  hundred  millions  on  a  war  without  the  working  classes 
feeling  it  in  increased  pressure  on  them,  and  that  if  they 
are  to  still  preserve  the  same  share  of  comforts  as  before, 
it  can  only  be  by  increased  labour,  for  it  is  out  of  their 
toil  that  the  taxes  are  directly  or  indirectly  in  great  part 
paid.  Then  it  might  be  shown  that,  if  the  Americans 
remain  at  peace  and  their  people  are  comparatively 
untaxed,  it  is  impossible  that  we  can  compete  with  them 
unless  we  are  content  with  less  wages  and  less  profit  of 
capital  than  they.  In  fact,  it  is  a  world-wide  question — 
but  the  great  point  is  to  start  from  sound  ground.  The 
people  who  write  these  topics  must  read  up." 

"August  8,  1856. 
"  I  paid  a  visit  on  Wednesday  to  my  neighbour,  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  met  Lord  Aberdeen,  Roundell 
Palmer  and  some  others.  The  old  Earl  was  even  more 
emphatic  than  at  the  same  place  a  year  ago  in  lamenting 
to  me  that  he  had  suffered  himself  to  be  drawn  into 
the  Russian  war.  He  declared  that  he  ought  to  have 
resigned.  Speaking  of  the  authors  of  his  policy  he  said, 
'  It  was  not  the  Parliament  or  the  public,  but  the  Press 
that  forced  the  Government  into  the  war.  The  public 
mind  was  not  at  first  in  an  uncontrollable  state,  but  it 
was  made  so  by  the  Press.'  He  might  have  added  that 
Lord  Johnny  had  something  to  do  with  it.  I  really  could 
not  help  pitying  the  old  gentleman,  for  he  was  in  an 
unenviable  state  of  mind,  and  yet  I  doubt  if  there  be 
a  more  reprehensible  human  act  than  to  lead  a  nation 
into  an  unnecessary  war,  as  Walpole,  North,  Pitt  and 
Aberdeen  have  done  against  their  own  conviction  and 
at  the  dictation  of  others.  By  the  way,  between  our- 
selves, he  told  me  that  he  had  told  the  Queen  he  thought 
she    was    playing    too    much    at    soldiers,    and    that    she 

167 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

laughed  and  said,  'You  know  I  am  a  soldier's  daughter 
and  must  take  care  of  the  Army." 

"  August  20,  1856. 
"  The  Americans  must  be  backed  up  in  their  view  of 
exempting  private  property  at  sea  from  spoliation.  It  is 
a  most  important  principle — tends  to  rob  the  spoiler  of 
his  prey  and  make  war  a  game  of  blood  and  bruisings 
without  the  attractions  of  plunder  and  prize  money. 
Hurrah  for  anything  that  tends  to  make  war  a  mere 
duel  between  professionals,  for  it  will  make  the  calling 
less  profitable  and  therefore  less  popular.  Don't  forget  to 
quote  prominently  a  passage  where  the  American  Foreign 
Secretary  condemns  large  armaments  as  being  hostile  to 
freedom  and  the  interests  of  the  people.  That's  the  way 
a  Government  speaks  which  really  represents  the  people." 

"  August  26,  1856. 
"  Don't  omit  your  foreign  topics — but  what  I  meant 
was  to  let  the  Star  have  a  due  mixture  of  home  questions. 
It  is  too  true  that  the  public  mind  has  been  so  blaseed  with 
Sebastopol  that  it  can't  attend  to  its  own  affairs — but  that 
is  too  unnatural  a  state  of  things  to  last— and  besides,  let 
us  recollect  that  it  is  our  mission  to  show  the  evil  of  such 
a  tendency  in  the  public  mind.  Ton  can  write  on  any 
home  topic  you  choose  to  take  in  hand  quite  as  well  as 
on  foreign  questions.  I  liked  your  article  upon  the  state 
of  parties — follow  it  up — you  are  quite  right  in  putting 
down  Whigs  and  Tories  in  the  same  category.  I  should 
like  to  know  what  distinctive  ground  the  most  decided 
Whig  would  claim  for  his  party  as  against  the  Tory. 
Certainly  not  for  being  the  party  of  Peace,  non-interven- 
tion and  economy,  for  on  these  questions  neither  Fox  nor 
Lord  Grey  would  any  longer  own  their  party  if  they  could 
again  revisit  this  scene.     But  in   dealing  with  these  two 

168 


Peace  and   Recovery 

aristocratic  factions,  avoid  on  the  other  hand  the  tone  of 
the  Tory-Chartist — i.e.  the  active  advocacy  of  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Tories  as  a  means  to  better  government.  All 
that  I  would  sav  in  this  direction  is  that  we  need  not  be 
frightened  at  it — for  the  Radicals  are  a  much  more  useful 
and  honest  party  in  the  House  when  in  opposition,  and 
the  Whigs  never  make  any  progress  excepting  in  that 
invigorating  atmosphere." 

"  September  5,  1856. 
**  The  Slavery  Question  is  working  to  a  crisis  in  the 
United  States.  I  have  a  strong  suspicion  that  these 
Southern  bullies,  who  bluster  so  loudly,  when  they  find 
the  opinion  in  the  North  go  against  them,  as  I  hope  it 
will  do  by  a  decided  vote  in  the  Free  States  for  Fremont, 
will  draw  in  their  horns.  If  not  they  will  find  themselves 
given  over  to  perdition,  for  if  once  the  North  is  fairly 
roused  against  the  South  it  will  be  short  work  with  the 
latter.  Northern  races  are  less  impulsive  and  may  there- 
fore sometimes  seem  to  be  at  first  run  down  by  the  South, 
but  they  always  win  against  lower  latitudes  when  fairly 
brought  to  bay.  I  wish  you  would  tell  them  as  much  in 
a  short  quotable  article  in  the  Star.  It  helps  the  good 
cause  in  America.  The  way  in  which  you  can  legitimately 
take  up  the  subject  is  to  refer  to  the  threat  sometimes 
thrown  out  by  Southern  newspapers  that  the  Slave  States 
will  form  a  union  of  some  kind  with  England.  Tell  them 
they  can  have  no  idea  of  the  feeling  in  this  country  or  they 
would  not  look  in  this  direction  for  sympathy,  that  before 
they  can  be  admitted  to  a  union  with  England  they  must 
not  merely  give  up  the  extension  of  slavery,  which  is  all 
their  fellow-citizens  in  the  States  wish  them  to  do,  but 
must  first  emancipate  every  slave  they  possess,  for  that  if 
they  were  subjects  of  the  Queen  of  England  they  would 
be  every  man  of  them  felons,  and  liable  to  the  punishment 

169 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  transportation  for  owning  slaves.  Tell  them  there  is 
not  a  man  in  Europe,  unless  it  be  a  kindred  despot  who 
likes  to  see  republicanism  brought  into  disrepute,  who  does 
not  cry  shame  upon  them.  They  must  be  given  up  to  the 
madness  which  precedes  a  fall  or  they  would  not  challenge 
the  attention  of  the  world  to  their  odious  institution  so 
out  of  time  and  out  of  place  in  a  Christian  and  democratic 
community." 

« 

"  October  1,  1856. 
"  It  seems  to  me  that  the  present  is  a  most  favourable 
opportunity  for  vindicating  our  principles  in  the  Star  in 
reference  to  the  Neapolitan  business.  I  am  writing  con- 
stantly to  Dunckley  at  Manchester,  and  to  Hamilton, 
offering  them  hints  and  stimulating  them  to  an  energetic 
advocacy  of  non-intervention  views.  I  wish  you  had  been 
in  London.  It  is  at  such  a  moment  as  this  that  the  Star 
ought  to  put  forth  all  its  strength  in  the  vindication  of 
its  views,  and  to  endeavour,  as  it  did  in  the  American 
business,  to  make  its  influence  felt.  But  this  can  only  be 
done  by  a  daily  reiteration  of  its  arguments.  But  to  do 
this  as  The  Times  does,  without  boring  its  readers,  requires 
the  resources  of  several  pens.  All  parties  should  bring 
their  minds  to  bear  on  the  great  topic  of  the  day.  It 
seems  to  me  that  we  are  more  thoroughly  wrong  in  join- 
ing Louis  Napoleon  to  coerce  the  King  of  Naples  into 
good  government  (bless  the  mark  !)  than  ever  we  were 
before,  and  that  is  saying  much.  But  the  Cockney  Press, 
as  usual,  is  running  full  cry  after  this  false  scent.  Not 
only  the  London  papers,  but  the  Whig  provincials  as 
usual,  and  our  friend  the  Mercury  taking  the  lead.  I 
send  you  a  paper  with  an  atrocious  article  calling  for  the 
cannon^  and  at  the  same  time  avowing  ignorance  of  what 
the  demands  of  the  Allies  are  !  Then  there  is  the  in- 
consistency of  wanting  only  to  make  despotism  safe  and 

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Peace  and  Recovery 

preventing  the  spread  of  insurrection  into  Hungary  and 
Poland.  But  I  have  underlined  several  of  the  absurdities 
and  not  the  least  the  last.  I  wish  you  would  give  a  gentle 
rebuke  to  our  religious  friend  for  his  reckless  advocacy  of 
sanguinary  measures  on  all  occasions.  He  richly  deserves 
it.  Is  not  this  a  monomania  ?  The  only  way  I  can 
account  for  this  course  invariably  taken  by  a  man  who 
pretends  to  the  highest  regard  for  the  interests  of  religious 
morality  and  education  is  that  he  is  over-endowed  with 
the  pugnacious  organs  even  to  a  point  of  deformity." 

"  October  15,  1856.. 

"  There  was  an  excellent  and  very  suggestive  article  in 
the  Star  about  the  physical  force  tendencies  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race.  If  it  was  Hamilton's  tell  him  what  I  say,  for 
he  will  not  take  it  as  a  worse  compliment  coming  through 
third  hands.  But  tell  him  it  would  have  been  better 
without  the  first  paragraph  about  the  '  enlightened 
foreigners.'  And  pray  call  all  your  contributors  together 
and  forbid  them  ever  putting  an  exordium,  Times  fashion, 
to  their  articles.  In  medias  res  must  be  the  motto  for  the 
beginning  of  your  articles.  It  is  old-fashioned  and  im- 
pertinent to  dally  with  your  readers  over  an  exordium, 
and  they  resent  it  by  not  reading  the  articles. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  we  ought  to  take  some  opportunity 
of  showing  the  political  philosophy  of  our  non-intervention 
policy.  I  mean  that  it  must  not  be  allowed  to  appear  as  a 
sterile  principle.  But  we  must  show  that  the  intervention 
principle  is  against  the  interests  of  our  people  in  a  variety 
of  ways,  as  in  distracting  attention  from  home  politics, 
adding  loads  of  debts  and  taxation  which  keep  down  by 
their  presence  the  working  class  and  prevent  them  from 
rising  in  the  social  scale  and  therefore  from  rising  politi- 
cally. This  should  be  brought  out — or  otherwise  we 
appear  to  be  merely  fighting  for  a  sentiment." 

171 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 


"  October  19,  1856. 

"  I  have  seen  Bright  twice  ;  we  have  had  long  walks, 
played  at  billiards,  and  fished  together,  and  have  talked 
incessantly  for  hours,  not  always  keeping  clear  of  the 
forbidden  field  of  politics.  I  could  perceive  little  differ- 
ence except  that  he  is  twenty  pounds  thinner  and  his  tone 
and  aspect  are  much  more  gentle  and  subdued.  He 
found  himself  none  the  worse  for  our  interview.  He 
says  he  can  talk  politics  with  me  or  any  one  who  agrees 
with  him  without  inconvenience,  but  if  he  is  opposed  it 
makes  his  head  ache  and  gives  the  sense  of  fatigue  to  his 
brain.  I  am  thus  far  relieved  by  what  I  have  seen  of  him 
after  an  eight  months'  separation  that  I  have  no  longer  the 
horrid  fear  of  his  falling  into  a  state  of  mental  imbecility, 
a  fate  far  more  dreadful  than  death.  If  he  follows  the 
good  advice  of  Sir  J.  Clark  and  others  and  goes  abroad 
for  another  year,  I  feel  sure  that  the  risk  of  any  active 
and  permanent  disease  arising  from  the  present  attack 
may  be  averted.  But  whether  he  will  be  ever  able  to 
take  again  a  position  in  public  life  when  he  is  to  bring 
to  bear  the  same  fervour  of  feeling  and  the  same  herculean 
energies  as  in  times  past  is  a  question  which  I  hardly  dare 
ask  myself.  However,  I  am  thankful  that  at  all  events 
the  health  and  happiness  which  are  consistent  with  a 
moderate  exertion  of  his  mental  powers  are  within  his 
reach.  He  has  quite  made  up  his  mind  to  go  abroad 
within  a  month. 

"Don't  omit  any  chance  of  utilizing  Faucher.  I  told 
him  you  were  anxious  to  do  what  you  could.  Now  pray 
be  candid  with  him.  Tell  him  he  must  not  only  give  all 
his  powers  to  the  paper  for  the  time  engaged,  but  that  he 
must  have  tact  and  conciliatory  manners  at  the  office  to 
everybody.  Tell  him  that  it  is  natural  that  there  should 
be  a  little  awkwardness  between  him  a  foreigner  and  an 

172 


JOHN*    BRIGHT,    RICHARD   COBDEX    AND    MICHEL   CHEVALIER. 


[To  fact  page  171. 


Peace  and   Recovery 

English  staff.  It  would  be  so  in  any  walk  of  life.  But 
it  must  be  his  business  to  surmount  this  difficulty.  I 
have  not  heard  from  him  since  I  saw  you.  Of  his  know- 
ledge, at  once  comprehensive  and  exact,  of  continental 
politics,  and  of  his  unswerving  devotion  to  sound  economic 
and  peace  principles  I  am  quite  able  to  speak  with  con- 
fidence. I  send  you.  in  strict  confidence  of  course,  the 
enclosed  note  from  Bright  to  show  what  is  doing  about 
the  proprietary  of  the  Star.  I  shall  not  take  a  pecuniary 
interest.  I  am  too  sensitive,  whilst  in  the  public  arena, 
to  be  a  proprietor  of  a  London  daily  paper.  I  tell  Bright, 
a  partner  in  London  to  manage  the  business  department  is 
in  my  opinion  a  sine  qua  non  of  success.  I  see  no  objection 
but  the  reverse  to  the  names  he  mentions." 

"  October  zi,  1856. 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  the  fact  that  the  English 
public  have  to  learn  for  the  first  time  what  their  Foreign 
Office  is  doing  and  what  use  the  Admiralty  is  about  to 
make  of  their  ships-of-war  through  an  announcement  in  the 
1  Moniteur '  ought  to  be  bitterly  commented  on.  Then 
mark  with  what  care  the  French  Government  announces 
that  they  don't  intend  to  promote  revolution.  After  this 
will  the  geese  and  donkeys  in  this  country  who  profess  to 
believe  that  Palmerston,  the  partner  in  this  intervention, 
really  means  something  serious  against  the  rule  of  the 
Bourbons  still  continue  to  delude  themselves  ?  But  bear 
in  mind  that  when  the  Moniteur  tells  the  world  that 
revolutionary  movements  will  not  be  encouraged,  it  really 
means  that  they  will  not  be  permitted.  The  only  serious 
menace  in  the  article  in  the  Moniteur  is  against  the  repub- 
licans and  Mazzini.  It  is  evident  that  the  King  of  Naples 
has  nothing  to  fear. 

11  An  occasion  ought  to  be  taken  (but  do  not  mix  up 
too  many  branches  of  the  argument  in  one  article)  to  refer 

173 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to  the  maddening  articles  which  appeared  in  the  London 
Press  (and  don't  forget  the  Leeds  Mercury)  when  this 
intervention  was  first  announced.  Quote  these  articles. 
Look  at  the  Daily  News — it  was  one  of  the  worst.  How 
these  papers  invoked  the  indignation  of  the  country 
against  the  King  of  Naples  !  The  Leeds  Mercury,  you  will 
see,  distinctly  says  he  is  an  '  assassin  '  and  '  murderer.'  It 
was  with  these  phrases  that  these  papers,  relying  on  their 
former  impunity  and  forgetting  that  there  is  now  a  real 
competition  in  the  Press  which  will  always  tend  to  their 
swift  exposure,  only  a  few  weeks  ago  endorsed  this  act  of 
intervention  and  inflamed  the  minds  of  their  readers, 
leading  them  at  the  same  time  to  expect  that  proceedings 
commensurate  with  the  alleged  misdeeds  of  the  wicked 
king  would  be  carried  into  execution.  Well,  now,  what 
has  come  of  their  thunder.  A  proclamation  from  the 
French  Government  that  not  a  hair  of  this  alleged 
1  tyrant,'  '  murderer  '  and  '  assassin  '  shall  be  touched  ! 
These  newspapers  seem  every  few  months  to  be  hold- 
ing themselves  up  to  the  ridicule  and  contempt  of  the 
whole  civilized  world  by  their  bombastic  threats  and 
abortive  performances.  Who  will  trust  them  for  guides 
in   future  ? 

"  Another  topic.  Some  of  these  papers,  wishing  to  be 
logical  even  at  the  expense  of  every  sentiment  of  morality 
and  humanity,  when  pushed  home  in  argument  and  com- 
pelled to  avow  a  theory  in  harmony  with  their  warlike 
policy,  boldly  avow,  like  the  Leader  in  the  enclosed  para- 
graph, that  they  look  on  wars  and  revolutions  like  lotteries 
in  which  though  blank  after  blank  may  be  drawn  yet 
somehow  and  somewhere  liberty  is  to  emerge  out  of  the 
bloody  cauldron.  If  these  parties  are  honest  and  not 
blinded  by  self-conceit,  one  would  not  despair  of  convinc- 
ing them  that  every  step  they  take  in  this  path  of  warfare 
or  preparation  for  war  between  crowned  heads  and  despots 

174 


Peace  and    Recovery 

leads  directly  back  from  the  goal  of  freedom  they  profess 
to  seek.  Increased  armaments, imore  young  men  put  under 
the  yoke  of  the  drill  sergeant  and  made  a  part  of  the 
machine  of  despotism,  heavier  taxation  keeping  down  the 
masses,  and  last,  not  least,  the  attention  of  men  diverted 
from  the  more  important  question  of  domestic  policy 
to  be  scattered  and  wasted  in  the  maze  of  diplomatic 
squabbles.  And  do  such  simple  folks  as  their  writers  in 
the  Leader  expect  that  out  of  this  liberty  is  to  grow  ? 
Do  they  suppose  that  some  day  the  armed  tyrants  will 
forget  their  cunning,  and  that  this  military  machine 
of  theirs  instead  of  despotism  is  to  turn  out  by 
accident  and  against  the  will  of  its  masters  the  friend 
of  freedom  ?  " 

"  November  2,  1856. 
"  It  appears  to  me  that  you  have  a  good  opening  now 
for  a  home  thrust  at  the  Government  Press,  and  those 
who  have  stunned  us  with  their  praises  of  Palmerston  for 
having  saved  the  country,  rescued  us  from  dishonourable 
terms,  and  secured  a  peace  of  twenty  years  at  least  by 
showing  Russia  how  utterly  powerless  she  was,  etc.  Well, 
now,  what  are  these  same  journalists  with  The  Times  at 
their  head  telling  us  ?  That  the  terms  of  the  peace  are 
not  being  fulfilled,  that  Russia  is  not  subdued,  that  she 
is  at  her  old  work  again,  precisely  as  before  the  war,  that 
in  fact  Palmerston's  peace  is  a  failure.  But  then  what 
becomes  of  all  the  merit  claimed  for  Palmerston  ?  He 
went  on  with  the  war  after  the  Vienna  Conference,  spent 
4S  another  thirty  or  forty  millions,  sacrificed  of  French 
and  English  troops  some  one  hundred  thousand  men  and 
all  for  what  ?  Read  the  articles  in  the  Government 
papers  and  they  tell  us  the  work  must  be  done  over  again. 
But  what  is  more  serious  we  are  to  do  it  single-handed. 
The   Times  is  now  at   its  old  work  of  bluster  again,  '  in 

175 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

the  name  of  the  people  of  England,'  telling  Russia  that 
we  are  as  ready  as  ever  for  war.  Stop  a  bit,  Mr.  Times. 
If  the  people  go  to  war  again  it  will  not  be  for  objects 
such  as  now  seem  to  be  the  ground  of  quarrel — the 
Serpents  Island  or  a  few  square  miles  of  morass  and  lake  in 
Bessarabia.  Without  pretending  to  speak  for  the  country, 
it  may  safely  be  said  that  it  will  not  again  be  led 
blindfolded  by  The  Times  or  trust  itself  once  more  to  the 
genius  of  blunder  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  Government. 
Every  word  these  parties  utter  against  the  late  peace  is 
a  condemnation  of  themselves,  and  a  proof  that  the 
people  ought  not  again  to  listen  to  them  in  any  grave 
matter  of  foreign  politics.  The  public  feel  that  the 
power  even  for  mischief  of  The  Times  is  gone,  destroyed 
by  its  own  reckless  immorality — for  its  bluster  now 
ceases  to  affect  the  Funds  which  actually  rise  in  the  face 
of  such  leaders  as  that  of  Friday.  You  must  really  pile 
a  little  scorn  and  indignation  on  this  topic." 

"  November  4.,  1856. 
"  Do  you  suppose  one  person  in  ten  that  buys  the  Star 
reads  through  such  an  article  (apropos  of  nothing)  as  that 
upon  knighthood  the  other  day  ?  These  essays,  wanting 
in  aptness,  give  a  poor  idea  always  of  the  practical  talent 
about  a  paper.  Depend  on  it  that  the  penny  Press  must 
not  only  go  to  New  York  for  its  printing-machine  but 
also  for  its  model  of  management.  There  must  be  the 
same  vigorous  aptness  in  all  that  is  written,  and  as  much 
news  and  correspondence  eventually  (when  the  paper  duty 
comes  off)  as  in  the  Herald  or  Tribune.  Your  writing 
may  if  you  please  be  more  classical  and  in  milder  taste, 
but  it  must  be  equally  direct  and  apropos  to  the  business 
of  the  hour,  and  you  must  not  get  into  the  way  of  one 
formal  leading  article,  but  give  sparkling  little  leaders  as 
they  do.     Bright  agrees  to  all  this." 

176 


Peace  and  Recovery 

"  November  7,  1856. 

"  So  we  are  now  to  have  an  Austrian  alliance!  Turkey 
and  Austria  are  our  only  European  friends.  If  I 
could  afford  it  I  would  pay  a  person  of  sufficient  industry 
to  go  constantly  back  for  a  few  years  over  The  Times 
paper  and  reproduce  the  articles  which  it  would  wish  to 
have  forgotten  just  at  the  moment  when  it  was  perpetrat- 
ing a  new  act  of  tergiversation.  Now  pray  do  hunt  up 
one  of  its  diatribes  against  Austria  and  print  it.  Is  there 
no  way  of  stinging  the  public  in  the  Liberal  Press  into 
self-respect  on  this  subject  of  a  foreign  policy  ?  Our 
newspapers  are  obtaining  for  us  the  scorn  and  contempt 
of  the  reading  world  by  their  total  disregard  of  consist- 
ency and  their  kaleidoscopic  suddenness  of  change  to  suit 
the  views  of  the  Foreign  Office  ;  and  the  worst  of  it  is 
that  both  the  old  political  parties  are  so  much  in  the  same 
vein  and  expect  some  day  to  have  their  turn  in  the  same 
convenient  game  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  establish 
a  sound  principle  which  shall  put  an  end  to  their  doings. 

"  There  is  one  party  that  I  should  think  might  be 
brought  to  repudiate  the  old  policy  altogether,  I  mean  the 
phil-Hungarians,  the  Italian-liberation  Society,  etc.,  in 
fact  the  party  of  the  '  nationalities.'  But  unfortunately 
they  have  their  scheme  of  foreign  intervention,  the  wildest 
and  most  anarchical  of  all,  for  it  sets  aside  the  allegiance 
to  treaties  and  international  obligations  and  would  set  up 
a  universal  propaganda  of  insurrection  and  rebellion. 
But  surely  these  parties  who  are  honest,  if  they  be  logical, 
will  be  open  to  this  conviction  now,  that  any  attempt  to 
serve  '  nationalities  '  whilst  the  policy  of  the  '  Balance  of 
Power  '  is  all-powerful  and  overrides  every  other  con- 
sideration, even  to  the  extent  of  defending  Austria  against 
Russia,  is  an  utter  delusion.  There  is  something  most 
offensive   to  reason  and   common   sense   in   seeing  great 

177  M 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

popular  demonstrations  in  favour  of  Kossuth  and  for  the 
Italians  in  this  country,  whilst  the  people  who  move  in 
these  meetings  are  utterly  powerless  to  prevent  their  own 
Government  from  giving  its  support  to  the  oppressor 
of  these  nations.  One  would  think  their  first  business 
should  be  to  get  as  much  power  over  their  own  Govern- 
ment as  would  prevent  it  from  helping  the  Austrians.  I 
shall  certainly  have  something  to  say  about  this  when 
Parliament  meets." 

"November  (?),  1856. 

"  No  Power  gives  more  advantage  to  the  Government 
of  Austria  in  this  way  than  England,  for  it  is  needless 
to  add  that  first  and  foremost  in  all  continental  intrigues 
and  diplomatic  imbroglios  is  the  Foreign  Office  of  this 
country.  And  none  is  more  ready  to  hold  up  European 
treaties  between  the  Governments  as.  a  discouragement  or 
menace  in  the  face  of  the  struggling  leaders  for  independ- 
ence than  our  present  Prime  Minister.  Ask  not  merely 
M.  Mazzini,  whom  it  is  the  fashion  to  blame  as  imprac- 
ticable, but  M.  Manin,  the  temperate  but  heroic  defender 
of  Venice,  or  M.  Kossuth  himself,  what  answer  they  got 
from  Lord  Palmerston  even  after  they  had  driven  every 
Austrian  from  their  territories.  Why,  they  were  coldly 
reminded  of  the  Treaty  of  Vienna,  and  told  bluntly 
enough  that  no  other  authority  could  be  recognized  in 
Vienna  or  Hungary  than  that  of  the  Austrian  Govern- 
ment. 

"  Now  we  recommend  a  course,  a  principle  of  action, 
which  will  tend  to  leave  their  Government  more  at  the 
mercy  of  the  people  they  are  oppressing.  We  would 
keep  aloof  from  the  blood-stained  oppressors  at  Vienna. 
We  would  have  no  compliments  passing,  no  secret 
diplomacy,  no  dependence  in  any  way  on  that  central 
authority  ;  we  would  cultivate    friendly  intercourse   and 

178 


Peace  and  Recovery- 
trading  relations  as  far  as  possible  with  the  people 
throughout  all  the  Austrian  Empire,  and  we  would  be  on 
a  courteous  footing  diplomatically  with  the  Government. 
In  a  word,  we  would  take  as  much  as  possible  the  same 
ground  as  that  occupied  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  towards  Austria.  Now  here  is  a  programme  of 
foreign  policy  ;  will  our  Liberal  politicians,  our  Radicals 
and  democrats,  as  they  profess  themselves,  join  us  in  this 
policy  ?  If  it  can  be  carried  out,  depend  on  it  we  shall 
do  more  than  by  any  intermeddling  to  bring  the 
Austrian  Government  upon  a  proper  footing  of  depend- 
ence on  its  people.  It  will  be  far  sounder  and  more 
successful  than  meddling  in  Italy  or  any  other  country 
through  the  same  diplomatists  who  are  binding  us  hand  and 
foot  to  Austria.  Will  our  Liberals  embrace  this  policy  ? 
If  not — why  not  ?  Are  we  to  be  told  of  the  Balance  of 
Power,  that  Austria  is  a  part  of  the  system  of  Europe, 
and  if  she  were  removed  from  the  scale  then  we  should 
not  be  safe  from  the  encroachments  of  Russia,  etc.  ? 
Then  we  are  in  league  with  the  murderers  of  '  Cicero- 
acchio,'  and  it  is  for  our  safety  that  the  oppressors 
of  Hungary  and  Italy  are  to  be  maintained  in  their 
sanguinary   rule  at   Vienna." 

"  November  20,  1856. 
"  I  observed  what  you  said  about  the  Greeks.  They 
are  very  clever  fellows.  All  my  sympathies  are  with 
them.  I  like  the  race,  for  I  never  met  a  stupid  Greek. 
But  you  must  always  have  a  certain  watch  and  reserve 
on  yourself  in  your  political  relations  with  them.  They 
are  very  ardent  patriots,  and  sometimes  their  zeal  is  apt 
to  get  the  better  of  their  discretion.  The  best  way  is 
to  do  them  justice  at  all  times  but  not  to  give  the  Star 
the  aspect  of  their  advocate.  They  ought  to  be  able  to 
give  you  early  information  sometimes.     The  resuscitation 

179 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  the  Greek  race  and  the  wonderful  development  it  has 
made  in  commercial  enterprise  and  wealth  during  the  last 
thirty  years  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  signs  of  the 
times.  That  race  will  yet  play  a  part  in  the  destinies  of 
the  East.  If  we  could  see  the  Italians  turning  to  industry 
and  commerce  it  would  give  us  better  hopes  of  them. 
But  whilst  they  leave  the  trade  of  their  ports  to 
foreigners  and  do  nothing  but  whine  to  other  nations  for 
help  I  have  little  faith  in  their  destiny.  With  their  long 
seaboard  and  numerous  ports  they  ought  to  have  a  com- 
merce which  would  put  down  Austria  by  sea." 


"November  30,  1856. 
"  I  have  been  moving  about,  but  see  the  Star  regularly. 
The  writing  is  good,  but  the  'reading'  still  execrable. 
The  enclosed  from  the  Manchester  Guardian  is  very  good. 
Do  you  think  it  would  do  for  the  Star  ?  Robertson 
Gladstone  suggests  that  London  would  be  a  better  place 
than  Manchester  for  a  first  meeting  about  '  Foreign 
Policy.'  If  any  meeting  be  held  I  am  inclined  to  that 
opinion.  Manchester  has  never  been  more  than  the 
ghost  of  its  former  self  in  the  agitations  that  have  been 
attempted  there  since  the  League  shut  up  shop.  And 
we  always  suffer  by  a  comparison  with  our  former  selves. 
It  is  perhaps  contrary  to  human  nature  to  expect  that  the 
same  community  which  has  won  one  great  triumph  should 
be  the  first  to  re-enter  the  political  arena  for  other 
victories.  People  naturally  feel  a  wish  to  enjoy  what 
they  have  been  for  seven  years  fighting  to  obtain.  Besides, 
the  truth  must  be  told  that  people  in  Lancashire  are 
growing  conservative  and  aristocratic  with  their  prosper- 
ous trade.  London  in  my  opinion  would  be  more  likely 
to  turn  up  new  blood.  What  do  you  say  to  this  ?  I 
have  written  to  Sturge.     Let  it  be  private." 

180 


Peace  and    Recovery 

"  December  I,  1856. 
"  I  have  often  thought  of  referring  to  the  subject  but 
have  not  time  by  this  post  to  do  more  than  offer  a  word 
of  caution.  There  is,  I  see,  a  man  arrested  at  Berlin,  and 
he  seems  to  point  to  a  Court  enemy  in  England  as  the 
author  of  his  arrest.  As  I  never  see  the  Cockney  papers 
except  The  Times  (which  to  do  it  justice  never  has  lent 
itself  to  the  party)  I  don't  know  what  they  are  now 
saying  upon  the  subject,  but  I  have  always  observed 
that  the  Advertiser  and  other  papers  are  ready  to  be  let 
slip  upon  Prince  Albert  and  the  '  Germanism  '  of  the 
Court  at  every  opportunity.  Now  I  suspect  all  this  to 
come  from  the  inspiration  of  a  high  quarter.  There  are 
not  two  men  perhaps  of  exalted  political  rank  capable 
and  dexterous  enough  for  playing  this  game.  It  is  to 
retaliate  upon  the  Court,  and  especially  Prince  Albert,  for 
checks  which  a  certain  ambitious  politician  has  had  at  the 
palace  that  these  attacks  are  made.  They  don't  spring 
from  a  Radical  or  Chartist  inspiration,  but  from  the 
opposite  end  of  the  political  scale.  You  will  under- 
stand. All  I  wish  now  is  to  guard  you  against  giving 
any  countenance  to  this  strategy.  It  is  not  on  our  side 
but  to  favour  the  arch-enemy  of  our  principles." 

"  December  4,  1856. 
"  Pray  write  a  sharp  indignant  article  upon  the  one  in 
The  Times  yesterday  about  Wallachia  and  Moldavia. 
Read  the  last  paragraph  where  we  are  distinctly  told  that 
our  object  is  to  sustain  the  rights  of  the  Sultan  even 
against  the  people  of  those  provinces,  and  as  it  is  known 
that  the  population  are  for  union,  The  Times  is  now 
ordered  by  our  Foreign  Office,  which  has  taken  its  line 
against  it,  to  vilify  beforehand  the  people  as  unfit  to 
decide  for  themselves,  and  to  denounce  their  decision  as 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

being  only  the  work  of  Russia.  And  so  we  are  to  put 
ourselves  in  opposition  to  the  people  and  to  be  the  ally- 
only  of  that  Turkish  minority  which,  to  use  The  Times'* 
own  simile,  lies  like  the  lava  of  Vesuvius  upon  the 
Christian  population.  And  yet  we  are  indignant  with 
Americans  and  Russians  because  they  will  not  call  our 
Eastern  policy  the  defence  of  '  liberty  '  !  But  what  can 
possibly  result  from  this  line  but  disastrous  failure  ?  The 
population  of  these  countries — the  Christian  and  pro- 
gressive element — will  be  more  and  more  our  enemies 
and  more  and  more  the  friends  of  Russia.  Who  can 
doubt  that  it  is  in  the  end  the  intelligence,  wealth  and 
numbers  of  the  Christian  population  that  will  rule  the 
East,  and  the  utmost  that  we  can  do  to  retard  it  is  by 
tying  ourselves  for  a  few  years  to  the  corpse  of  the 
Ottoman  despotism  to  be  ultimately  compelled  for  very 
shame  and  decency  to  turn  upon  it  and  aid  in  its  over- 
throw. In  the  meantime  where  are  those  Liberals  among 
our  warlike  politicians  who  have  always  advocated  the 
union  of  these  principalities,  because  they  know  that  is 
the  wish  of  the  people  ?  " 

"  December  5,  1856. 

"  I  think  you  would  do  well  to  put  forth  an  article  calling 
the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  necessity  of  a  Reform  in 
our  Foreign  Policy,  and  inviting  your  readers  to  set  to 
work  to  accomplish  it  in  the  only  way  in  which  reforms 
of  any  kind  can  be  effected  in  England,  viz.  by  association 
and  agitation. 

"  The  necessity  of  some  change  in  our  diplomatic 
procedure  is  now  all  but  universally  admitted.  Outside 
of  the  Foreign  Office  scarcely  a  human  being  can  be 
found  to  defend  the  mode  in  which  its  affairs  are  con- 
ducted. The  practicability  of  some  agreement  on  a  new 
principle   of  foreign   policy   is   the  only   question    to    be 

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discussed.  That  can  be  solved  only  by  a  conference  and 
a  discussion,  perhaps  more  than  one,  between  honest  men 
of  various  shades  of  opinion  who  agree  as  to  the  necessity 
of  some  change.  The  Liberals  all  profess  the  principle 
of  non-intervention.  The  Tories  do  not  oppose  them  in 
this  view.  Mr.  Roebuck  says  to  Mr.  Hadfield  at  Sheffield, 
'  I  am  for  non-intervention,  but  then  I  am  for  making 
other  people  conform  to  the  same  principle.'  Well,  there 
is  little  difference  of  opinion  on  this  subject.  We  all  wish 
to  see  the  principle  universally  adopted.  But  there  are 
some  who  think  that  the  first  step  is  to  act  up  to  our  own 
professions,  and  thus  try,  at  least  in  the  first  instance, 
what  moral  means  can  be  adopted  to  carry  out  our  views. 
Mr.  Roebuck  is  all  for  force,  for  cannon  and  squadrons, 
and  regiments  and  fleets — let  us  try  in  the  first  place 
the  force  of  a  good  example  and  of  an  honestly  expressed 
opinion.  England  will  never  speak  in  vain  when  she 
has  moral  power  to  back  her,  but  Mr.  Roebuck  will 
allow  that  whilst  our  Foreign  Office  is  ready  to  approve 
the  French  intervention  in  Rome,  and  excuse  the  Russian 
invasion  of  Hungary,  and  become  a  party  to  an  occupation 
of  Greece,  to  say  nothing  of  the  threatened  intervention 
in  Naples — we  can  have  no  moral  standing  ground  for 
appealing  to  Austria  to  put  an  end  to  the  occupation 
of  the  Papal  Legation  or  the  Danubian  Principalities. 
Our  policy  seems  studiously  devised  to  give  an  excuse 
for  all  that  Austria,  Russia  and  France  have  done  and 
are  doing  in  the  way  of  intervention." 

"  December  20,  1856. 
"  If  I  were  going  to  put  out  an  advertisement  to 
reconcile  the  gentility  of  the  land  to  penny  newspapers, 
I  should  lay  stress  upon  the  advantages  which  steam  and 
the  electric  telegraph  give,  and  which  allow  cheap  papers 
now  to  place  themselves  on  a  par  with   the   richest   old 

183 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

high-priced  journals  in  the  power  of  obtaining  important 
facts.  I  would  admit  that  those  facts  must  be  given 
in  a  compendious  form — but  then  I  would  argue  that  to 
nineteen-twentieths  of  readers — to  all  indeed  who  have 
something  else  to  do  than  read  newspapers — -it  is  pre- 
ferable to  have  news  in  the  briefest  form.  I  should  admit 
that  twenty-five  years  ago,  before  steamboats  and  loco- 
motives and  electric  telegraphs  had  been  brought  generally 
into  use,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  had  a 
good  penny  paper  able  to  compete  with  the  old  capitalists. 
For  instance,  then  The  Times  would  bring,  in  a  postchaise 
and  four  from  Liverpool  to  London  at  an  expense  of 
fifty  pounds,  a  copy  of  the  American  President's  message 
to  gain  twentv-four  hours'  start  on  its  rivals.  Now  the 
same  message  is  brought  in  a  parcel  by  railway  in  six 
hours  for  three  shillings,  and  at  such  repeated  times 
of  starting  every  day  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
any  advantage  to  any  paper  from  hiring  an  express. 
Besides,  the  electric  telegraph  anticipates  the  substance. 
This  line  of  argument  applied  to  the  Continent — to  the 
Indian  mail  from  Marseilles,  the  dispatches  from  Paris, 
Vienna,  etc.,  is  what  I  should  carefully  and  accurately 
elaborate  to  convince  sceptical  minds  that  the  cheap- 
ness is  a  necessary  result  of  the  steam  and  electric 
telegraph." 

"  Saturday. 

"  I  am  scarcely  to  be  trusted  when  writing  about  this 
too  successful  charlatan.  I  get  out  of  temper  more  with 
my  generation  than  the  man. 

u  Here  is  what  I  have  written.  Adopt  it,  or  reject  it, 
alter  it  as  you  please — but  if  it  appears  it  must  be  on 
your  own  responsibility  and  therefore  as  your  own. 
Don't  mention  me  to  Hamilton  or  anybody  in  con- 
nection  with  it.      But  something  of  the  sort  should    be 

184 


Peace  and   Recovery 

done.  It  will  attract  attention  in  high  quarters,  and 
it  is  the  honest  thing  to  be  done." 

"  What  is  '  Germanism '  ?  Where  shall  we  find  the 
'  Coburg  influence'  ?  Will  anybody  be  so  good  as  to 
enlighten  us  about  the  '  German  element  in  the  councils 
of  St.  James  '  ?  We  ask  for  this  information  that  we 
may  unravel  the  innuendoes  which  are  going  the  period- 
ical round  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  Press,  insinuating 
that  Prince  Albert  is  conspiring  with  foreign  despots  to 
thwart  the  policy  of  a  Liberal  (!)  Government. 

"  Sometimes  these  mysterious  revelations  are  made  to 
originate  at  Paris,  and  sometimes  at  Berlin  or  Brussels, 
where  'our  own  correspondent'  discovers  the  secret  springs 
of  intrigues  going  on  at  Buckingham  Palace,  intrigues 
quite  concealed  from  the  vigilant  eyes  of  the  denizens  of 
Westminster.  The  latest  discovery  of  Coburg  treason 
has  been  in  connection  with  the  Belgrad  affair.  Listen 
to  the  following  alarming  specimen  from  the  Paris  corre- 
spondent of  a  daily  contemporary.  .  .  .  This  startling 
piece  of  intelligence  is  much  too  good  to  be  monopolized 
by  the  diurnal  Press,  and  so  the  hebdomadal  journals 
join  in  the  cry  ;  and  under  the  head  of  '  Postscript ,'  in 
large  capitals,  and  with  the  exciting  addition  of  '  Friday, 
12  o'clock,'  we  find  the  following  in  a  weekly  con- 
temporary.  .   .   . 

"  These  attacks  against  Prince  Albert  are  always  found 
in  the  same  prints — not  the  first-class  journals,  be  it 
remembered,  for  The  Times  and  the  most  intellectual 
of  the  weekly  papers  refuse  to  notice  them — and  they 
are  always  in  some  way  or  another  associated  with  the 
espousal  of  the  cause  of  Lord  Palmerston.  Now,  from 
what  inspiration  do  these  attacks  emanate  ?  It  is  much 
easier  to  give  a  negative  than  a  positive  answer  to  the 
question.  They  certainly  do  not  spring  from  any 
prejudices    in    the  popular  mind  which  crave  for  grati- 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

fication  at  the  expense  of  the  Court.  A  democratic 
orator  who  had  no  better  programme  for  a  Chartist 
meeting  at  St.  Andrew's  Hall  than  to  charge  the  Prince 
with  thwarting  Lord  Palmerston  in  his  Liberal  tendencies 
would  be  laughed  off  the  platform.  In  the  manufacturing 
districts  the  Prince  is  known  only  as  the  ready  patron 
of  education,  science  and  art.  There  is  not  even  a 
tradition  among  the  Radicals  of  this  metropolis  which 
keeps  alive  any  sense  of  grievance  against  a  German 
influence  at  Court  adverse  to  Liberal  principles.  The 
oldest  frequenter  of  the  most  dingy  bar  parlour  who 
muddles  himself  every  evening  with  tobacco  smoke, 
beer  and  the  Advertiser  s  politics,  never  heard  of 
anything  of  the  kind.  How  should  he,  when  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years  there  has  been  no  German  political 
element  known  at  Court  ?  George  the  Third,  whose 
reign  commenced  a  century  since,  when  he  determined 
to  rule  in  opposition  to  his  advisers,  was  always  more 
English  than  his  Ministry.  If  he  played  off  one  part 
of  the  aristocracy  against  another  with  success,  it  was  by 
knowing  how  to  conciliate  the  prejudices  and  the  virtues 
of  the  British  people.  Whoever  heard  of  a  German 
element  in  the  political  conflicts  of  the  fourth  George, 
or  of  William  the  Fourth.  Besides,  the  rough-and-ready 
logic  of  the  million  naturally  asks — what  are  the  oppor- 
tunities and  where  is  the  power  which  Prince  Albert 
possesses  for  swaying  the  policy  of  the  Government  ? 
He  attends  no  Cabinet  Councils  ;  he  utters  no  argument 
and  gives  no  votes  in  the  Peers  ;  and  we  never  heard  of 
his  being  able  to  influence  a  single  vote  in  the  Commons. 
He  owns  no  pocket  boroughs  ;  nor  does  he  possess  large 
landed  estates  which  give  him  the  power  of  influencing 
the  county  elections.  The  Duke  of  Sutherland,  or 
Bedford,  or  Lord  Derby,  could  buy  all  the  land  possessed 
by   the    Prince   and    pay   for  it   with   less    than    a    year's 

186 


Peace  and  Recovery 

income  from  either  of  their  rentals.  The  masses  know 
all  this,  and  hence  we  never  hear  them  alleging  that 
he  is  responsible  for  wrongs  which  they  sometimes  lay 
at  the  doors  of  the  aristocracy,  the  Church,  the  middle 
class,  etc.  Seeing,  then,  that  they  do  not  spring  from 
popular  prejudice  or  feeling,  whence  emanate  these 
attacks  ? 

"  We  will  not  imitate  the  conduct  we  are  reprobating 
by  making  charges  which  cannot  be  substantiated.  We 
do  not  therefore  presume  to  say  that  a  certain  personage  is 
the  instigator  or  approver  of  these  systematic  accusations 
merely  because  they  have  always  happened  to  be  made 
in  his  interest  and  behalf.  It  is  notorious  enough  that 
these  attacks  have  always  turned  up  just  at  the  critical 
moments  when  a  scapegoat  was  indispensable  to  atone  for 
some  conspicuous  failure  of  the  present  Prime  Minister,  to 
cover  his  retreat  from  an  untenable  position,  or  to  revenge 
his  temporary  fall.  The  unhappy  fact  is  also  notorious 
that  mutual  confidence  and  esteem  must  be  wanting 
between  the  Sovereign  and  her  present  Prime  Minister  ; 
for  there  is  on  the  records  of  Parliament  that  terrible 
letter  which  Lord  John  Russell  read  to  the  Commons 
of  England,  charging  Lord  Palmerston  with  want  of 
candour  to  one  who  is  the  essence  of  womanly  purity  and 
truthfulness.  But  forced  upon  his  Sovereign  as  he  was 
by  a  bewildered  Parliament  and  people,  not  a  doubt  has 
ever  been  whispered  of  the  perfect  loyalty  and  frankness 
with  which  his  official  services  have  been  accepted.  And 
we  absolve  him  from  the  charge,  the  base  charge  of 
suborning  or  conniving  at  anonymous  slanders  of  the 
Court  to  which  he  beyond  all  others  owes  a  frank 
allegiance.  But  we  give  this  absolution  on  one  condition. 
These  charges  and  insinuations,  reiterated,  specific  and 
public,  are  of  a  character  which  can  only  be  effectually 
silenced  by  Lord  Palmerston  himself.     They  speak  in  no 

187 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

equivocal  terms  of  unconstitutional  influences  exerted 
over  him,  and  they  charge  him  (and  it  is  no  light  charge) 
with  succumbing  to  those  influences.  So  tangible  and 
specific  have  been  these  attacks  that  Lord  Aberdeen  and 
Lord  John  Russell  have  felt  themselves  called  upon  to 
defend  the  Prince  in  their  places  in  Parliament.  But  not 
one  word  has  Lord  Palmerston  ever  uttered  to  contradict 
accusations  with  which  his  name  as  an  aggrieved  party  haT 
always  been  impudently  associated.  We  trust  when 
Parliament  meets  a  member  will  be  found  to  give  his 
lordship  an  opportunity  of  silencing  for  ever  these 
attacks,  and  if,  as  we  trust,  he  hates  foul  play  as 
cordially  as  we  do,  he  will  be  grateful  for  the  oppor- 
tunity which  will  be  afforded  him  of  covering  with  scorn 
and  reprobation  those  truculent  prints  which  have  been 
making  such  free  and  unworthy  uses  of  his  name." 

December  (?). 
"  If  what  is  now  said  of  the  murder,  by  the 
Austrians,  of  '  Ciceroacchio '  and  his  two  sons,  one 
of  them  a  child,  be  true,  it  ought  to  be  denounced  by 
the  Star  as  heartily  as  any  paper.  When  I  was  at 
Rome  in  the  spring  of  1847,  and  the  Pope  had  just 
begun  to  evince  a  spirit  in  favour  of  Reform,  there 
was  a  great  excitement  in  the  Papal  States,  and  a 
considerable  latitude  of  speech  and  Press.  The  most 
remarkable  man  in  Rome  for  his  influence  over  the 
populace  was  a  tradesman  of  decent  character  (I  believe 
a  coachmaker)  whose  powers  of  oratory  got  him  the 
sobriquet  of  the  second  or  little  Cicero.  I  can  speak 
to  his  character,  for  I  had  indirect  communications  with 
him.  At  that  time  the  Marquis  Massimo  D'Azeglio, 
since  Prime  Minister  of  Piedmont,  a  man  of  every 
modern  accomplishment,  grained  with  the  purest 
patriotism  and  an   antique  courage  and  disinterestedness, 

188 


Peace  and   Recovery 

was  living  a  refugee  at  Rome.  I  was  in  constant  inter- 
course with  him,  and  he  was  in  private  communication 
with  the  Pope  on  the  one  side  and  the  people  on  the 
other  through  '  Ciceroacchio.'  It  was  thought  best 
that  I  should  not  see  the  latter  in  an  interview,  but 
owing  to  my  being  fresh  from  an  anti-aristocratic 
triumph  in  England,  I  found  myself  a  very  great 
authority  in  matters  of  tactics  with  the  leaders  in 
Rome,  and  my  opinion  when  communicated  through 
D'Azeglio  had,  as  he  told  me,  great  weight  with 
'  Ciceroacchio.'  I  was  thus  in  the  thick  of  the 
agitation  and  knew  from  day  to  day  what  was  going 
on,  and  can  vouch  for  it  that  the  above-named  orator 
was  always  on  the  side  of  order,  morality  and  modera- 
tion. If  that  man  and  his  sons  were  murdered  in  the 
way  alleged  by  Garibaldi,  the  Government  of  Austria 
ought  to  be  gibbeted  and  denounced  till  it  is  made 
to  answer  before  the  opinion  of  the  world.  It  is,  if 
possible,  a  worse  outrage  than  hanging  the  Hungarian 
General  officers  in  cold  blood.  The  Government  of 
Austria  is  and  has  been  for  generations  remarkable  for 
cruelty  and  cold-blooded  treachery — the  result  of 
cowardice  owing  to  its  really  precarious  hold  on  the 
people.  In  my  opinion  that  Government  has  been  a 
nuisance  to  the  cause  of  progress  and  freedom  in 
Europe  any  day  since  the  fall  ol  Napoleon.  And 
what  is  it  that  perpetuates  and  will  continue  to  sustain 
such  a  despicable  rule  ?  Why,  the  State  system  of  Europe 
•which  goes  under  the  name  of  the  Balance  of  Power. 
This  it  is  which  alone  preserves  the  integrity  of  the 
Austrian  Empire,  and  deprives  the  nationalities  of  a 
chance  of  overthrowing  the  incubus.  It  is  because  the 
other  Governments  of  Europe  consider  it  necessary  at 
whatever  cost  of  internal  misgovernment  to  keep  in- 
tact a  great   member  of  the  states  system,  rather    than 

189 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

allow  it  to  suffer  disruption  and  take  a  new  form,  that 
these  tyrannies  propped  up  from  without  seem  to 
threaten  to  be  eternal.  And  never  perhaps  was 
diplomacy  more^  busy  in  weaving  a  web,  the  meshes 
of  which  tie  together  in  almost  indissoluble  bonds 
under  one  pretence  ^or  another  the  different  Govern- 
ments of  Europe,  than  during  the  last  two  years. 
Every  treaty  to  which  Austria  is  invited  to  be  a  party 
— every  time  she  isjcalled  in  to  mediate  and  arbitrate 
between  such  Powers  as  England,  France  and  Russia — 
a  new  lease  is  given  to  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  and 
the  Hungarians  and  Italians  feel  an  augmented  load  of 
central  despotism  weighing  them  still  deeper  in  the 
dust." 

"December,  1856. 
"  I    wrote    to    Hamilton    advising    him    not    to    take 
sides    in    the    Neuchatel   quarrel,    which  nobody    under- 
stands, but  to  urge  on  both  parties  the  absolute  duty  of 
submitting  the  question  to  arbitration,  and  to  denounce 
whichever     side    should     first    appeal     to    arms.       But 
prima  facie  the  case  is  against  Prussia,  for  her  adherents 
were    the     first    to    resort    to    armed     insurrection.      If 
called   on   to  offer  an   opinion,    I   should  say    that  your 
leaders   in    the   Star   (not    meaning   your   own)    are   still 
wanting  in  the  ad  hominem  and  ad  rem  quality.     They 
are    generally    essays,    which    might     have    been    written 
two    hundred    miles    from    the    office,    and    would    have 
been    as    opportune    a    week     before    as    after    the    time 
of    their    appearance.      Right    or    wrong    see    how    The 
Times    pounces    on    the    topic    of    the     hour,    see    their 
unfair  but  appropriate    article  yesterday  on  the  Robert- 
son   Gladstone    manifesto.      It  is  by  thus  hanging  their 
articles  on    the   peg  which   presents  itself  that    they  are 
more  sure    to   be   read    than   any  others.     Look   at   the 

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Peace  and  Recovery 

New  York  cheap  Press,  see  how  they  sparkle  with 
full  or  short  leaders  on  the  living  and  moving  drama 
of  public  life.  It  is  thus,  too,  that  a  paper  can  alone 
make  itself  felt  as  a  power.  Hit  hard,  but  with  a 
polished  weapon  all  of  sufficient  mark  who  directly  or 
indirectly  assail  our  principles." 


191 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    CHINA   WAR   AND   THE    INDIAN   MUTINY 

The  year  1857  opened  quietly.  The  country  was 
settling  down  to  a  period  of  peace  and  prosperity. 
Cornewall  Lewis  at  the  beginning  of  the  Session  of 
Parliament  took  off  the  "  war  ninepence "  from  the 
income  tax,  reducing  it  from  sixteenpence  to  seven- 
pence. 

But  trouble  soon  arose  in  connection  with  the 
bombardment  of  Canton  by  British  men-of-war.  In  the 
October  of  1856  a  merchant  vessel,  the  Arrow >  owned 
by  a  Chinese  merchant  and  manned  by  Chinamen,  but 
commanded  by  an  Englishman,  was  boarded  by  a 
local  mandarin,  who  carried  off  the  crew  on  a  charge 
of  piracy.  It  had  been  a  custom  for  the  British 
representative  at  Hong-Kong  to  grant  registers  to 
Chinese  vessels,  giving  them  certain  trading  privileges 
and  authorizing  them  to  carry  the  British  flag.  The 
Arrow  had  held  one  of  these  registers,  which  had, 
however,  expired  some  time  before  the  seizure  of  its 
crew  took  place,  so  that  in  point  of  fact  the  Arrow 
was  not  in  any  sense  under  British  protection,  and  did 
not  in  fact  carry  the  British  flag.  Sir  John  Bowring, 
the  British  representative  (a  personal  acquaintance  of 
Cobden  and  actually  a  member  of  the  Peace  Society), 
resented  the  Chinese  action,  insisting  that  the  Arrow 
was  for  the  time  being  a  British  vessel  and  that  the 
Chinese  had  insulted  Britain  by  hauling  down  her  flag. 

192 


The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

He  demanded  the  release  of  the  crew  and  an  apology. 
On  being  refused  he  directed  Sir  Michael  Seymour,  in 
command  of  the  British  squadron,  to  enforce  the  de- 
mands. Seymour  seized  the  ports  guarding  the  entrance 
to  Canton.  The  Chinese  thereupon  surrendered  the 
crew  of  the  Arrow.  But  Bowring  then  put  forward 
further  demands,  including  the  opening  of  Canton  itself 
to  British  subjects.  The  Chinese  refused  these  further 
claims,  and  in  November  Seymour  bombarded  Canton. 
The  Chinese  made  reprisals,  setting  fire  to  foreign 
factories  and   murdering  a  number  of  Europeans. 

'  Such  was  the  beginning  or  a  long  and  costly  war 
which  had  early  reactions  upon  home  politics.  Cobden 
was  unsparing  in  his  denunciation  of  the  conduct  of 
Bowring,  and  when  the  papers  were  laid  before  the 
Houses  of  Parliament,  Lord  Derby  moved  a  vote  of 
censure  in  the  Lords  and  Cobden  in  the  Commons. 
Though  the  Government  secured  a  majority  in  the 
Lords,  Cobden  carried  his  resolution  in  the  Commons 
by  a  majority  of  sixteen  and  Palmerston  appealed  to 
the  electorate. 

The  elections  were  held  in  the  latter  days  of  March. 
Abandoning  his  seat  for  the  West  Riding,  when  he 
was  convinced  he  had  no  chance,  Cobden  took  up  his 
candidature  for  Huddersfield.  But  the  combination  of 
Tories  and  Palmerstonian  Whigs  outvoted  him. 
Palmerston's  victory  was  complete,  and  the  Manchester 
School  was  almost  destroyed.  The  defeat  of  Bright 
at  Manchester  especially  aroused  Cobden's  indignation, 
expressed  in  trenchant  terms  in  a  letter  of  March  25th. 
Fox  also  lost  his  seat  at  Oldham  and  Miall  at  Rochdale. 

Several  letters  of  this  period  to  Bright  and  others 
discuss  the  causes  of  the  collapse  of  sound  Liberalism 
on  the  one  hand  and  upon  the  other  the  failure  of 
the    new    democratic  appeal    in    Lancashire.     Of  special 

193  N 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

interest  is  a  passage  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Palmer  r 
(August  9th)  comparing  Birmingham,  the  home  of  the 
rising    mid-Victorian    Radicalism,    with    Manchester. 

"  The  honest  and  independent  course  taken  by  the 
people  at  Birmingham,  their  exemption  from  aristo- 
cratic snobbery,  and  their  fair  appreciation  of  a 
democratic  aim  of  the  people,  confirms  me  in  the 
opinion  I  have  always  had  that  the  social  and  political 
state  of  that  town  is  far  more  healthy  than  that  of 
Manchester  ;  and  it  arises  from  the  fact  that  the 
industry  of  the  hardware  district  is  carried  on  by  small 
manufacturers,  employing  a  few  men  and  boys  each, 
sometimes  only  an  apprentice  or  two  ;  whilst  the  great 
capitalists  of  Manchester  form  an  aristocracy,  individual 
members  of  which  wield  an  influence  over  sometimes 
two  thousand  persons.  The  former  state  of  society  is 
more  natural  and  healthy  in  a  moral  and  political  sense. 
There  is  a  freer  intercourse  between  all  classes  than  in 
the  Lancashire  town,  where  a  great  and  impassable  gulf 
separates  the  workman  from  his  employer.  The  great 
capitalist  class  formed  an  excellent  basis  for  the  Anti 
Corn-Law  movement,  for  they  had  inexhaustible  purses, 
which  they  opened  freely  in  a  contest  where  not  only 
their  pecuniary  interests  but  their  pride  as  '  an  order ' 
was  at  stake.  But  I  very  much  doubt  whether  such 
a  state  of  society  is  favourable  to  a  democratic  political 
movement." 

Cobden  was  not  sorry  to  be  absent  from  the  servile 
Parliament  now  elected.  His  wife  in  her  ill-health 
needed  much  of  his  attention,  and  his  farm  and  garden 
life  at  Midhurst  strongly  appealed  to  him,  especially 
at  a  time  when  his  personal  influence  in  politics  was 
eclipsed.  Many  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Richard  are  con- 
cerned with  the  corruptness  of   the   Press    and    its    evil 

'   "Life,"  ii.  p.  199. 
I94 


The  China  War  and  the    Indian   Mutiny 

control  over  public  opinion.  Even  the  Star  sometimes 
he  finds  '  too  soft  and  mealy-mouthed.'  All  through 
this  year  he  is  continually  feeding  the  Star  through 
Mr.  Richard  and  others  with  material,  chiefly  on  foreign 
and  imperial  affairs.  On  July  5th  we  get  his  first 
allusion  to  the  outburst  in  India  and  the  horrors  of  the 
Mutiny  and  its  repression.  Writing  to  Mr.  Ash  worth 
in  October,  he  draws  from  the  terrible  episode  the 
larger  lesson  of  imperialism.  "  I  am,  and  always  have 
been  of  opinion,  that  we  have  attempted  an  impossibility 
in  giving  ourselves  to  the  task  of  governing  one  hundred 
millions  of  Asiatics.  God  and  his  visible  natural  laws 
have  opposed  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  success  of 
such  a  scheme.  But  if  the  plan  were  practicable  at 
the  great  cost  and  risk  which  we  now  see  to  be  in- 
separable from  it,  what  advantage  can  it  confer  on 
ourselves  ?  "  1 

Almost  the  only  important  personal  incident  of  his 
quiet  life  this  year  was  a  short  visit  from  his  American 
friend  Charles  Sumner,  of  whom  he  writes  :  "  He  is 
nearer  to  our  beau  ideal  of  a  politician  than  we  could 
pick  up  in  any  other  man  of  his  calibre." 

•  •  #  •  • 

The  following  extracts  from  his  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Richard  furnish  his  commentary  upon  the  foreign 
policy   of  the  year  : — 

"January  3,  1857. 
"  You  have  taken  the  right  view  of  the  Canton 
business.  It  is  not  clear  that  we  had  any  right  to 
claim  the  protectorate  of  a  vessel  built,  owned  and 
manned  by  Chinese,  but  at  all  events  it  was  the  act  of 
unreasoning  violence  to  refuse  to  discuss  that  point. 
What    other    course    was    there    left    for    the    Chinese 

1   "  Life,"  ii.  p.  206. 

195 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Governor  but  to  withdraw  in  despair  and  give  up  every- 
thing to  ruin,  or  to  affirm  by  his  own  act  what  he 
believed  to  be  an  injustice  and  invasion  of  his  country's 
right  and  thus  bring  down  on  himself  the  vengeance  of 
his  own  Government  ?  What  right  have  we  to  register 
vessels,  to  which  there  is  not  one  title  according  to 
the  rules  of  civilized  nations  ?  Now  in  all  cases  a 
certain  title  either  in  the  origin,  i.e.  the  building  or 
ownership  or  manning  of  a  ship,  is  necessary  for  register- 
ing- a  vessel  and  entitling  it  to  carry  a  flag.  But  what 
other  end  could  be  aimed  at  but  embroiling;  ourselves 
in  war  in  thus  taking  Chinese  vessels  under  our  pro- 
tection ?  I  say  this  on  the  assumption  that  the  vessel 
in  question  was  built,  manned  and  owned  by  Chinese. 
Is  not  '  lorcha  '  a  Portuguese  word  ? 

"  But  my  object  in  writing  is  to  suggest  an  inquiry, 
What  was  Sir  John  Bowring  doing  all  this  while  ?  He 
is  commander-in-chief  and  representative  of  the  English 
Government  in  China.  He  has  an  establishment  in 
Hong-Kong  costing  a  very  large  sum  with  Secretaries, 
Judges,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  state.  Why  did 
Mr.  Parke,  a  young  and  inexperienced  man  whose  only 
exploit  that  I  have  heard  of  was  the  bringing  home  the 
treaty  with  Siam,  presume  to  call  up  the  Admiral,  and 
why  did  the  latter  undertake  to  act  without  the  formal 
and  regular  and  step-by-step  intervention  of  Sir  John 
Bowring,  who  is  the  accredited  representative  of  England 
in  China  and  who  was  at  a  few  hours'  steaming  distance 
from  Canton  ?  This  is  a  point  I  think  to  bring  into 
question — not  in  the  way  of  blame  to  Bowring,  for  I 
expect   he  is  treated  as  nobody." 

"  January  1 8,  1857. 

"  You  have  not  sent  me  a  Gazelle  containing  the 
correspondence  about  Canton.  I  have  reckoned  on 
your  doing  so. 

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The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

"  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  could  get  any  evidence 
of  the  failure  of  the  late  war  so  far  as  the  missionary 
efforts  are  affected.  God  help  the  Christians  who  think 
of  making  their  religion  acceptable  in  the  rear  of  an 
opium  war,  for  surely  nothing  but  an  interruption  of  the 
laws  of  human  nature  by  especial  divine  interposition 
could  ever  have  that  result  !  Pray  give  me  the  extract 
from  Davies's  correspondence  with  Palmerston  in  which 
he  says  he  has  more  difficulty  with  the  English  at  Canton 
than  with  the  Chinese." 

"  January  1857. 
"  I  send  a  copy  of  a  letter  (not  for  publication)  which 
1  have  forwarded  to  Mr.  Gregson,  the  Chairman  of  the 
East  India  and  China  Association.  He  is  a  good  man, 
and  I  am  sorry  he  has  put  his  name  to  the  memorial — 
which,  by  the  way,  is  not  honest  so  far  as  it  puts  down  the 
enormous  import  of  silk  last  year  without  noticing  that  it 
arose  from  the  extraordinary  demand  owing  to  the  failure 
of  the  crop  in  some  parts  of  Europe.  But  I  wish  you  to 
say  something  about  our  commercial  gains  from  the  last 
China  War,  when  everybody  in  England  was  fully  per- 
suaded we  should  have  an  enormous  increase  of  our 
exports  if  we  could  only  gain  access  to  the  northern 
ports.  When  the  terms  of  the  peace  were  known  there 
was  a  general  throwing  up  of  caps.  I  remember  that 
even  such  staid  men  as  Porter  caught  the  enthusiasm  and 
his  '  Progress  of  the  Nation  '  gives  a  great  improvement 
in  our  trade.  One  of  our  Manchester  manufacturers  I 
remember  got  excited  and  delivered  himself  of  a  calcula- 
tion that  if  every  Chinese  man  only  bought  a  cotton 
nightcap  a  year  from  us  it  would  add  20  per  cent,  to 
the  demand  for  our  staple  manufacture.  So  far  as  our 
exports  are  concerned  it  has  proved  a  complete  disappoint- 
ment.    I  send  you  by  this  post  a  Parliamentary  Paper  in 

197 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

which  you  will  see  a  table  of  our  exports  to  China  for 
fifteen  years,  and  I  have  added  in  the  margin  extracts  still 
farther  back  from  Porter.  Observe  that  we  have  sained 
scarcely  anything  in  the  way  of  customers  for  our  manu- 
factures. Indeed,  some  of  the  years  since  the  war  have 
been  less  favourable  than  before.  We  have  obtained 
more  tea  and  silk,  it  is  true,  but  nobody  pretended  that 
there  was  ever  any  difficulty  in  procuring  those  products 
without  a  war.  It  is  the  opium,  and  not  our  manufactures, 
that  serves  as  a  means  of  payment  for  the  additional  supply 
of  tea  and  silk  ;  and  it  is  the  opium  trade,  and  not  the 
exclusive  policy  of  the  Chinese,  which,  according  to  the 
best  authorities,  stands  in  the  way  of  our  increasing  our 
exports  to  China.  I  advise  you  to  give  some  of  these 
figures  of  our  exports  as  a  table  in  your  leader,  apolo- 
gizing and  saying,  'We  are  not  in  the  habit,'  etc. — but 
figures  are  sermons  in  this  case,  for  they  teach  us  not  to 
rely  on  violence  and  bloodshed  again  for  the  extension  of 
our  trade.  The  Chinese  have  always  set  Europe  an 
example  of  low  duties  on  imports,  and  when  our  old 
sliding  scale  on  corn  was  still  the  law  of  the  land  the 
Chinese  not  only  admitted  rice  free  of  duty  but  exempted 
vessels  filled  with  that  staple  of  their  food  even  from 
port  charges.  It  is  not  therefore  from  protectionist  or 
restrictive  legislation  that  our  trade  is  suffering. 

'  At  present  it  is  obstructed  by  the  revolution — that 
revolt  according  to  the  highest  authorities  having  been 
occasioned  by  our  last  war,  which  destroyed  the  prestige 
of  the  present  Government.  Who  can  tell  what  may  be 
the  effects  of  another  war  ?  Certain  expense — we  keep 
now  a  ship-of-war  at  every  port,  and  they  will  be  largely 
increased  now.  Before  the  last  war  we  never  had  more 
than  a  vessel  or  two  at  Canton.  Then  there  is  a  costly 
establishment  at  Hong-Kong.  I  am  writing  in  haste,  but 
here  is  verb.  sap. 

198 


The  China  War  and  the    Indian   Mutiny 

"  Suppose  we  force  our  way  to  Pekin  and  that  France, 
England,  and  Russia  each  has  its  Stratford  de  RedclifFe 
intriguing  and  interfering  with  the  affairs  of  China  as  we 
now  do  in  Turkey — what  shall  we  gain  ?   etc. 

"  The  increased  cost  of  our  establishments  at  the  five 
ports — at  Hong-Kong,  and  our  increased  number  of 
ships-of-war  must  amount  to  at  least  20  per  cent,  on  our 
exports,  and  it  has  all  failed  to  increase  them." 

Subjoined  is  a  copy  of  the  enclosure,  a  letter  addressed 
to  Mr.  Gregson  {^January  14th)  : 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see  your  respected  name  appended  to 
the  memorial  from  the  India  and  China  Association. 
Not  that  1  am  opposed  to  the  object  you  have  in  view, 
in  trying  to  open  still  further  the  Empire  of  China  to  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  (I  wish,  by  the  way,  our  trade 
with  the  continent  of  Europe  were  as  free  as  with  China, 
and  that  we  had  five  ports  or  even  one  in  France  where 
the  Chinese  tarifF  was  in  force.)  But  what  I  much  regret 
is  that  you  should  put  forth  your  claims  as  a  sequel  to  the 
late  proceedings,  of  our  authority  in  China,  without  offer- 
ing a  word  of  censure  or  comment  on  those  base  and  cruel 
transactions.  It  is  very  like  attempting  to  enter  a  house 
in  the  rear  of  a  burglar  and  offering  to  transact  business 
whilst  some  of  its  inmates  are  weltering  in  their  blood  and 
others  still  struggling  with  their  assailants.  You  are  a 
free-trader,  and  I  am  proud  to  remember  how  friendly 
and  warm  have  been  your  commendations  of  my  efforts 
to  emancipate  our  trade.  All  my  best  sympathies  are 
with  the  mercantile  class  ;  but  this  makes  me  the  more 
jealous  of  their  fair  fame,  and  I  do  not  think  it  will  be 
raised  in  the  estimation  of  thoughtful  and  good  men  by 
becoming  in  any  way  identified  or  associated  with  the 
outrageous  acts  to  which  I  allude.  If  you  have  read  the 
dispatches,  as  I  have  done,  you  will  have  seen  that  in  Sir 
John  Bowring's  first   letters  to  the  Consul  at  Canton  he 

199 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

confirms  the  statement  made  by  Yeh  that  the  lorcha,  about 
which,  and  which  alone,  as  appears  in  the  correspondence, 
the  dispute  arose,  was  not,  when  boarded  by  the  Chinese, 
entitled  to  hoist  the  English  flag  ;  but  he  goes  on  to  add 
that  the  Chinese  authorities  did  not  know  that  the  register 
of  the  u4rrow  had  expired,  and  he  authorizes  the  resort  to 
violence  in  support  of  the  allegation  of  our  Consul,  which 
he  knew  to  he  false.  A  more  nefarious  paragraph  than  that 
penned  by  my  old  friend  Bowring  was  never  given  to  the 
public  eye.  And  the  attempt  now  to  change  the  issue  to 
a  totally  different  question,  in  which  we  may  be  right, 
ought  not  to  be  tolerated.  I  repeat  I  am  sorry  to  see  your 
name  appended   to  a  document  which  has  this  object  in 


view." 


"  January  27,  1857. 

"  I  got  a  note  from  Parker  on  Saturday  saying  he 
heard  in  high  quarters  that  the  Persian  affair  is  to  be 
settled — that  the  Persians  will  knock  under.  In  a 
letter  which  I  received  yesterday  from  Bright,  dated 
Genoa  and  written  in  his  usual  spirits,  he  says  he  passed 
a  day  or  two  at  Nice  amongst  such  folks  as  Ellice,  the 
Ashburtons,  etc.,  and  he  was  told  by  them  that  the 
Persian  difficulty  would  be  settled  before  the  meeting 
of  Parliament.  Be  on  your  guard  then  in  dealing  with 
this  question.  Our  privileged  oligarchs  can  do  as  they 
like,  and  as  Palmerston,  their  real  tool,  has  for  a  couple 
of  months  distracted  public  attention  from  home  matters 
by  holding  the  Persian  war  in  terrorem  over  us,  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  in  a  week  or  two  his  flunkeys  of  the 
Press  will  be  taking  credit  to  their  master  for  having 
saved  us  from  a  war  !  Be  prepared  for  this.  The 
Chinese  affair  is  a  much  more  uncertain  matter,  and 
I   am  told  the  Government  intend  to  stick  by  their  tool. 

"  There  are  two  symptoms  in  the  Star  which  I  observe, 

200 


The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

or  perhaps  only  fancy  I  perceive,  viz.  a  tendency  to 
systematically  quote  from  the  Press,  and  a  proneness 
to  praise  and  champion  Gladstone.  The  first  is 
Disraeli's  organ,  a  sneerall  of  the  Press,  without  a  heart, 
plan,  sympathy,  or  conviction.  Nothing  in  our  direction 
can  be  hoped  from  that  quarter,  and  I  would  not  care 
to  be  the  vehicle  for  its  factious  attacks  upon  the 
Government  with  no  other  object  than  that  those  who 
are  no  better  may  fill  their  places.  Of  course  I  only 
say  this  against  systematically  quoting  from  that  paper 
in  a  way  to  identify  you  with  its  objects.  I  approve 
of  your  plan   of  quoting  from  all  sides. 

"  As  respects  Gladstone,  what  right  have  we  to  reckon 
en  his  aid  to  carry  out  our  views  of  foreign  policy  ? 
He  was  a  party  to  the  invasion  of  Russia,  and  to  this 
day  defends  the  policy  of  sending  a  British  army  to 
the  Crimea.  And  I  believe  he  was  an  obstacle  to  Lord 
Aberdeen  washing  his  hands  of  the  guilt  of  the  war  after 
the  Turk  refused  the  award  of  the  first  Congress  of 
Vienna.  In  my  opinion  every  member  of  the  Cabinet 
who  was  a  party  to  the  Crimea  expedition  ought  to  be 
considered  to  be  for  ever  separated  by  an  impassable 
gulf  from  us  unless  he  renounce  the  policy  which  dictated 
that  step  and  profess  another  policy  for  the  future.  I 
don't  see  what  right  we  have  to  hope  better  things  from 
Gladstone.  His  retirement  from  the  Ministry,  you 
must  remember,  was  not  on  the  plea  that  he  was  opposed 
to  the  war,  but  on  the  ridiculous  and  unworthy  ground 
of  Roebuck  having  carried  his  motion  for  a  parliamentary 
inquiry — thus  in  fact  setting  up  for  a  claim  to  adminis- 
trative impunity.  I  have  the  highest  opinion  of 
Gladstone's  powers.  He  is  the  most  eloquent  and  im- 
pressive speaker  we  have,  and,  now  that  Bright  is 
absent,  exercises  an  influence  with  his  speeches  to  which 
no    other    member   can    pretend   to   even   a    comparison. 

201 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

His  sway  is  owing  mainly  to  the  stamp  of  earnest  con- 
scientiousness which  is  impressed  on  the  man  at  the 
moment  he  addresses  you.  But  his  conscience  has  not 
yet  taken  him  in  our  direction,  or  if  so  he  has  failed  to 
follow  its  dictates.  And  indeed  I  fear  he  sometimes 
entangles  his  conscience  in  his  intellect.  I  have  heard 
him  defend  '  protection  '  with  such  sophistical  arguments 
that  I  have  doubted  whether  he  was  more  than  a  reason- 
ing machine  for  the  moment,  with  his  moral  sense  put  in 
abeyance.  I  am  afraid  he  is  not  even  yet  committed 
to  any  broad  and  intelligible  principles,  and  if  so  he  may 
be  only  invested  with  powers  of  mystification  by  the 
praise  you  lavish  on  him.  Lord  Grey  is  the  only  man 
of  the  Cabinet  Minister  stamp  whose  conduct  can  be 
honestly  endorsed  by  us." 

"  March  7,  1857. 
"  Is  it  not  time  to  open  lire  upon  some  of  those  papers 
■which  support  Palmerston  and  call  on  them  to  explain 
the  public  grounds  on  which  they  do  so  ?  There  is  not 
the  least  doubt  that  Palmerston  has,  as  Disraeli  said  the 
first  night  of  the  session  in  reference  to  his  use  of  the 
Press,  made  greater  use  of  that  means  of  creating  an  artificial 
public  opinion  than  any  Minister  since  the  time  of  Boling- 
broke.  It  might  be  worth  your  while  to  refer  to  his 
speech  and  get  the  exact  words.  He  meant  a  great  deal 
more  than  was  expressed.  I  have  thought  a  good  deal 
about  it  and  have  talked  the  matter  over  with  several 
persons,  and  am  convinced  that  we  shall  have  to  come 
to  aii  overhauling  of  the  London  Press  with  a  view  to 
expose  the  system  by  which  they  preserve  the  anonymous 
to  the  public  and  drop  the  mask  to  the  Government  and 
the  governing  class.  It  is  a  totally  different  state  of 
things  to  that  in  the  provinces,  where  the  newspaper 
proprietors  and  conductors  are  all  known  to  their  neigh- 

202 


The  China  War  and  the    Indian    Mutiny 

hours.  The  way  to  break  ground  is  to  ask  how  it  is  that 
The  Times,  which  for  twenty  years  was  the  persistent 
assailant  of  the  present  Prime  Minister,  should,  as  soon 
as  he  comes  into  power,  become  his  unscrupulous  advo- 
cate and  the  truculent  assailant  of  everybody  opposed 
to  him.  There  must  be  some  reason  for  the  change  other 
than  of  a  public  character,  for  Palmerston  is  the  same 
man  as  ever,  and  persevering  in  the  policy  which  The 
Times  formerly  opposed.  The  question  to  ask  is,  What 
is  the  present  connection  between  the  writers  in  The  Times 
and  the  Government  ?  Then  there  is  the  Advertiser, 
which  professes  to  be  strongly  for  the  ballot,  extension 
of  suffrage,  and  short  parliaments,  and  is  a  stout  opponent 
of  Church  rates.  How  does  the  Advertiser  account, 
on  public  grounds,  for  its  championship  of  the  Prime 
Minister  who  is  opposed  to  all  its  principles  ?  To  make 
the  matter  more  difficult  of  explanation  in  this  case,  the 
Advertiser  is  opposed  to  the  Chinese  War,  and  has  put 
forth  some  of  the  best  articles  that  have  been  written 
in  condemnation  of  that  war.  Mow,  then,  on  public 
ground  can  the  editor  of  the  Advertiser  continue  to 
advocate  the  cause  of  Palmerston  and  denounce  all 
opposed  to  him  ?  There  is  a  virulence  about  its  support 
of  the  Prime  Minister  quite  inconsistent  with  an  impar- 
tial attitude.  What  is  the  ground,  the  public  ground,  for 
this  suspicious  course  ?  Some  explanation  is  due.  Pro- 
mise to  recur  to  the  subject,  and  give  notice  that  whilst 
public  men  are  freely  commented  on,  the  public  Press 
must  not  expect  to  be  allowed  an  immunity  from  public 
censure. 

u  If  you  would  open  out  on  the  London  Press  in  the 
way  I  have  tried  to  indicate,  and  promise  to  return  to 
the  subject,  and  intimate  that  you  will  not  hesitate  to 
tear  the  mask  from  a  system  which  is  nothing  better  than 
political  deception,  it  will  excite  much  interest  and  sym- 

203 


Richard   Cobden  :    The  International  Man 

pathy,  and   we   may   by   and   by   rip   up  the  matter  with 

a  thorough  exposure.      I  am  quite  sure  there  is  a  great 

> » 
case. 

"March  16,  1S57. 

"  An  article  is  sadly  required  on  the  following  point : 
The  rank  and  file  of  the  electors  must  be  warned  to  look 
after  their  self-constituted  leaders,  who  are  everywhere 
very  busy  in  disposing  of  and  trafficking  in  seats. 
Wherever  the  choice  of  a  candidate  is  left  to  a  '  com- 
mittee,' as  it  is  called  (which  is  generally  a  few  busy- 
bodies  seif-elected),  it  will  be  jobbed  to  please  the 
Ministers  or  their  creatures.  Some  strange  doings  come 
to  one's  ears.  But  the  City  of  London  is  the  most 
glaring  case.  Mr.  Dillon,  and  a  few  other  pompous 
gentlemen  who  are  never  heard  of  when  any  work  is 
to  be  done  less  ostentatious  than  disposing  of  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  City,  summoned  a  meeting  of  two  hun- 
dred or  three  hundred  persons,  who  very  coolly  exclude 
the  public,  put  a  sentry  at  the  door  to  prevent  the  intru- 
sion of  inquisitive  people,  and  then  pass  a  resolution  that 
Mr.  Raikes  Currie  shall  take  the  place  of  Lord  John 
Russell  as  representative  of  London.  Wait  a  bit,  Mr. 
Dillon,  and  see  whether  the  electors  will  endorse  your 
arrogant  fiat.  These  '  committees,'  as  they  are  called, 
sometimes  dwindle  down  to  a  deputation  of  three,  who 
come  from  a  provincial  borough  to  town  and  disport 
themselves  as  great  men  at  the  clubs,  see  Mr.  Llayter 
and  Mr.  Coppock,  cross-examine  their  member  if  he 
should  happen  to  have  shown  the  least  signs  of  independ- 
ence, and  probably  end  by  making  choice  of  a  candidate 
from  the  list  of  names  at  the  Reform  Club.  The  first 
notice  the  great  body  of  the  electors  have  of  their  doings 
is  probably  in  the  resignation  of  their  member.  One 
would  like  to  know  the  circumstances  under  which  that 

204 


The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

most  excellent  and  conscientious  representative  of  the 
people,  Mr.  Lawrence  Hey  worth,  was  induced  to  send 
his  resignation  to  the  electors  of  Derby.  I  venture  to 
say  they  know  as  little  of  the  reason  of  his  doing  so  as  we 
do.  I  have  heard  of  the  case  ot  a  northern  borough 
represented  in  Parliament  by  a  right  honourable  gentle- 
man, an  ex-Cabinet  Minister,  whose  name  was  on  the 
back  of  the  Reform  Bill  of  1854,  which  Lord  Palmerston 
resisted  even  to  resignation,  who  was  lately  visited  in 
London  by  a  'deputation,'  and  required  to  give  a  pledge 
that  he  would  in  a  new  Parliament  agree  to  a  vote  of 
confidence  in  the  present  Premier.  He  refused,  and  his 
seat  has  been  offered,  under  the  advice  of  the  deputation, 
to  another.  Will  not  the  electors  have  something  to  say 
to  this  ? 

"  The  body  of  the  electors  must  everywhere  be  on  the 
alert,  and  must  put  good  men  of  their  own  forward. 
Never  mind  the  cry  of  'you  are  dividing  the  party.' 
There  is  no  Liberal  Party  so  long  as  its  only  principle 
is  confidence  in  a  man  without  one  Liberal  principle. 
This  '  Palmerston  fever  '  does  not  infect  the  healthy  mass 
of  the  electoral  body.  It  is  only  the  cliques,  clubs  and 
committees  that  are  brought  within  the  range  of  its  influ- 
ence. They  excite  and  chafe  each  other,  and  persuade 
themselves  that  all  the  world  is  in  as  great  a  fuss  as  them- 
selves when  all  the  world  is  in  a  quandary  what  it  is  all 
about,  and  more  thin  half  inclined  to  believe  that  it  is 
a  hoax." 

"March  17,  1857. 
"  I  am  launched  for  Huddersfield.  All  the  help  that 
can  be  given  I  shall  be  glad  to  have.  Can  you  send  down 
immediately  a  few  thousand  copies  of  the  tract  on  the 
China  War  and  have  them  immediately  distributed  by 
trusty  hands  in  Huddersfield  ?     There  is  not  a  moment 

205 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to  be  lost.  I  am  very  much  alarmed  at  the  state  of 
things  in  Manchester.  There  is  terrible  rottenness  and 
apathy,  and  desertions  almost  by  streets.  The  results 
can  alone  show,  but  I  fear  very  much  the  chances  are 
all  against  us.  We  are  to  have  a  great  meeting  this 
evening.  The  cause  of  the  mischief  is,  I  think,  less  a 
change  of  opinion  than  of  feeling  towards  those  who  are 
alleged  here  to  be  attempting  too  long  to  wield  the 
defunct  power  of  the  League.  There  ought  to  have  been 
a  reorganization  on  a  new  basis  long  ago.  However,  it 
is  useless  to  talk  about  the  causes  of  the  mischief  now. 
Our  only  business  is  to  win  if  we  can.  Say  nothing 
about  this  to  anybody,  for  it  oozes  out.  Pray  see  Morley 
and  try  to  what  extent  he  can  help  Lord  John  for  the 
City.  His  defeat  will  be  a  triumph  to  Lord  Palmerston, 
his  success  a  rebuke  to  him.  I  hope  he  and  Graham  will 
get  in. 

"  I  wish  you  would  let  the  enclosed  be  rewritten  and 
insert  it  in  a  prominent  place  in  the  Star." 

"March  25,  1857. 

"  I  made  an  engagement  to  return  to-day  to  Man- 
chester to  speak  this  evening  at  the  great  meeting  at  the 
Free  Trade  Hall.  It  is  unfortunate,  for  I  am  not  equal 
to  the  task.  I  have  overdone  it  here,1  and  am  brought 
to  a  standstill.  Canvassing  all  day  and  speaking  twice  at 
public  meetings  yesterday,  once  in  the  open  air,  have 
upset  me.  I  am  suffering  from  giddiness,  and  have  the 
fear  of  Bright's  fate  before  my  eyes.  What  to  do,  I 
know  not  ;  but  am  very  much  tempted  to  cut  the  cable 
and  separate  myself  absolutely  from  politics  for  a  season. 
Do  not  be  surprised  if  I  should  not  go  to  the  poll  here. 
I  have  decided  nothing  yet.  The  contest  is  a  very 
unpleasant,  harassing  affair,  for  although   I   have   all  the 

1   Huddersfield. 
206 


The  China  War  and    the    Indian    Mutiny 

Liberal  leaders  with  me,  and  no  open  secession  of  any 
part  of  the  constituency,  yet  it  is  too  small  for  me  to  work 
on  it  by  any  public  demonstrations.  The  '  people  '  are 
all  right,  but  the  electoral  body  is  to  a  certain  extent 
under  influences  which  may  baffle  all  calculations.  My 
friends  are  active  and  hopeful,  but  it  is  not  possible  to 
foresee  the  result.  I  wish  I  could  stand  aside  for  a  year 
for  many  reasons.  I  fear  you  must  be  prepared  for  the 
worst  at  Manchester.  I  am  going  there  this  morning 
according  to  my  promise,  but  shall  not  make  my  appear- 
ance at  the  Free  Trade  Hall." 

"March  26,  1  S57- 
"  It  will,  I  hope,  draw  down  on  Manchester  a  hiss 
of  scorn  if  it  rejects  those  men  to  return  two  nobodies. 
In  Bright's  case  it  is  particularly  disgusting,  for  they 
have  no  right  to  quarrel  with  him  over  the  war,  knowing 
when  they  elected  him  he  was  a  Quaker.  Under  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed,  with  his  health 
impaired  whilst  in  their  service,  cutting  the  connection 
with  less  ceremony  than  we  use  in  getting  rid  of  an 
invalided  horse,  it  is  one  of  the  most  revolting  cases  of 
public   ingratitude   I   ever  met  with." 

"Aprils  1857. 
"  I  am  in  a  fair  way  to  be  as  well  as  ever  in  a  few 
days.  My  old  medicine,  sleep,  comes  to  my  aid.  It 
seems  as  if  I  am  never  thoroughly  awake.  The  only 
trouble  I  have  is  in  the  number  of  good  people  who 
think  it  necessary  to  write  to  me  and  whose  letters  it 
will  be  necessary  to  answer.  They  seem  to  have  gene- 
rally a  notion  that  I  must  be  very  dispirited  and  want 
consolation  now.  There  is  perhaps  no  one  on  earth  who 
depends  so  little  on  external  circumstances  as  I  do  for 
cheerfulness  or  contentment.  I  don't  know  that  I  am 
warranted  in  assuming  that  I  have  reached  that  enviable 

207 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

point  described  by  Pascal  when  he  says  :  '  Whoever  finds 
the  secret  of  taking  satisfaction  in  good,  without  uneasi- 
ness in  disappointment,  has  made  a  great  achievement. 
It  is  a  kind  of  perpetual  motion  !  '  But  at  least  I  may 
say  that,  my  object  in  public  life  being  to  advance  objects 
which  I  believe  to  be  true,  and  therefore  certain  to  be 
triumphant,  I  never  feel  that  kind  of  discouragement  in 
temporary  defeat  which  men  must  who  have  only  personal 
ends  in  view." 

'■'■April  13,  1857. 
"  I  concur  in  what  you  say  about  the  extension  of  the 
franchise.  It  does  not  follow  that  we  should  be  nearer 
the  realization  of  our  pacific  principles  if  we  had  universal 
suffrage  to-morrow.  In  the  present  general  election  the 
most  warlike  returns  have  come  from  the  most  popular 
constituencies,  the  least  warlike  from  the  most  aristocratic 
counties.  I  have  said  this  to  Sturge,  not  as  an  argument 
against  the  most  liberal  extension  of  the  franchise,  but  to 
show  that  our  work  of  conversion  to  a  more  humane 
foreign  policy  would  have  to  be  performed  under  any 
change  of  the  electoral  system.  I  have  faith  in  great 
multitudes  when  appealed  to  perseveringly  and  honestly, 
and  am  willing  to  take  my  chance  with  the  million,  not 
shutting  mv  eyes  to  their  want  of  instruction  which  we 
should  be  all  the  more  eager  to  impart  to  them,  if,  as  in 
America,  owing  to  a  wider  extension  of  the  franchise,  our 
destinies  were  in  the  hands  of  the  democracy.  But  as 
respects  your  advocacy  of  another  Reform  Bill  in  the  Star, 
I  don't  see  the  necessity  of  launching  a  shibboleth  '  com- 
plete suffrage'  or  even  of  '  household  suffrage.'  I  would 
avow  my  belief  that  all  restrictions  upon  the  exercise  of 
the  vote  ought  as  far  and  as  fast  as  possible  to  be  got  rid 
of.  And  as  a  step  I  should  advocate  the  '  rating  suffrage  ' 
— i.e.  to  give  the  vote   to   those  who  are  rated   for  the 

208 


The   China   War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

relief  of  the  poor.  This  is  the  principle  already  recog- 
nized with  some  modifications  both  in  the  election  for 
Guardians  and  in  that  for  municipal  corporations.  It  is 
far  more  than  Lord  John  will  propose,  who  will,  I  expect, 
stick  at  his  £$  rating,  which  is  equal  to  £j  ios.  rental — 
being  only  ^2  ios. — under  the  present  franchise.  Don't 
be  drawn  into  any  dogmatic  theory  about  'complete 
suffrage  ' — it  is  our  friend  Sturge's  bantling,  and  he  has 
an  overwhelming  love  for  it." 

"April  13,  1857. 

"  The  enclosed  from  my  old  acquaintance  Bowring, 
which  I  received  last  week,  seems  to  have  been  written 
with  a  presentiment  of  what  was  coming.  Let  me  have 
it  again,  for  I  suppose  I  must  answer  it.  Apropos  of  this 
Chinese  business,  I  presume  from  the  preparations  making 
that  there  will  be  a  bloody  reprisal  made  either  at  Canton 
or  elsewhere  for  the  imaginary  wrongs  done  us  by  Yeh. 
Now  the  line  to  take  in  the  Star  clearly  is  to  prepare  the 
public  for  this,  and  to  prevent  its  appetite  for  vengeance 
from  being  whetted  by  any  speculations  about  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  task,  or  the  probable  resistance  to  be 
encountered  from  the  Chinese.  Let  it  be  again  and 
again  assumed,  and  shown  by  reference  to  the  former  war, 
that  the  Chinese  with  their  bows  and  arrows  and  match- 
locks, and  cannon  which  will  not  move,  and  their  painted 
shields  and  petticoated  officers,  have  no  more  chance 
against  our  Minie  rifles,  our  13-inch  shells  of  two 
thousand  yards'  range,  our  steamboats  and  our  pivot 
cannon,  than  the  Peruvians  had  against  Cortez  and  his 
men-at-arms.  It  is  not  war,  it  is  a  battue,  a  massacre,  or 
slaughter,  an  execution — call  it  anything  but  war — which 
really  means  a  manly  encounter  where  each  side  has  some 
chance  of  success  or  at  least  of  escape  from  destruction. 
Warn  the  people  against  being  irritated   or  deluded   by 

209  O 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

fanciful  proclamations  put  forth  in  the  name  of  the 
Chinese  authorities,  threatening  the  English  with  exter- 
mination. We  have  lately  seen  how  easily  these  things 
are  fabricated  for  electioneering  purposes.  The  question 
should  be  steadily  asked — What  do  we  propose  to  gain 
by  the  war  ?  We  may  compel  the  Chinese  Government 
to  pay  all  our  expenses  ;  that  they  must  do  if  we  demand 
it.  But  our  professed  object  was  to  gain  a  free  access  to 
the  city  and  neighbourhood  of  Canton.  Does  any  rational 
being  think  that  we  are  any  nearer  the  attainment  of  that 
object?  Does  anybody  suppose  that  Englishmen  will  be 
safer  in  the  interior  of  China  after  these  slaughterings  and 
burnings  than  before  ?  Are  we  prepared  to  land  forces 
and  occupy  a  country  eight  times  as  large  as  France  and 
ten  times  as  populous  ?  If  so,  look  to  the  expense,  look 
for  jealousies  and  possible  collisions  with  America  and 
other  Powers.  Is  the  object  to  gain  a  freer  commercial 
intercourse  with  China?  There  is  no  great  empire  where 
our  trade  is  a  quarter  as  free.  The  Liverpool  China 
Association,  in  their  notorious  memorial,  signed  by  their 
president,  that  arch-protectionist,  Mr.  Charles  Turner, 
insists  upon  our  having  free  access  even  for  our  ships-ot- 
war  to  all  the  rivers  and  harbours  of  China.  This  would 
of  course  lead  to  endless  collisions  but  not  necessarily  to 
increase  of  our  exports — for  always  bear  in  mind  that  the 
former  war  with  China,  whilst  it  has  added  enormously  to 
our  expenditure  for  ships-of-war  on  the  Chinese  station, 
for  consulates  at  the  rive  ports,  and  for  our  Hong-Kong 
establishment,  has  disappointed  those  Manchester  fire- 
eaters  who  expected  a  large  increase  of  exports  of  cotton 
goods  to  China. 

"  Can't  you  coax  or  bait  the  anti-opium  trade  agitation 
into  activity  ?  Their  movement  would  do  more  than 
anything  to  discredit  the  mercantile  party  with  whom,  and 
not  the  landed  aristocracy,  this  Chinese  War  originates. 

210 


The  China   War  and  the    Indian    Mutiny 

"  Did  you  see  the  speech  delivered  by  the  Bishop  of 
Victoria  in  Manchester  at  a  meeting  of  the  Society  for 
Propagating  the  Gospel  abroad,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the 
obstacle  which  the  opium  trade  offered  to  the  missionary 
efforts?  It  was  little  more  than  a  month  ago.  You  will 
find  it,  I  suppose,  in  the  religious  papers,  and  it  should  be 
copied  into  the  Star." 

'■'■April  15,  1857. 
"The  money  power,  created  by  the  vast  sums  voted 
for  the  support  of  the  standing  armaments  of  Europe, 
is  the  great  difficulty  we  have  to  encounter  in  trying 
to  reduce  those  peace  establishments.  The  Peace  Party 
in  England  raise  £5,000  a  year  to  maintain  a  contest 
against  a  system  which  is  subsidized  every  year  by  the 
State  to  the  amount  of  15  or  16  millions  sterling! 
There  must  be  great  pluck  in  the  men  who  dare 
enter  the  lists  in  such  an  unequal  contest.  And  yet  we 
are  gaining  upon  the  enemy's  position  ;  he  is  more 
and  more  on  the  defensive  ;  and  we  have  cast  off  his 
supplies  during  the  last  three  years  to  the  extent  of 
four  millions — I  will  back  time  and  the  £5,000  of  the 
Peace  Party  against  the  remaining  fourteen  and  a  half 
millions  voted  by  Parliament  for  Army,  Navy  and 
Ordnance." 

"  April  17,  1857. 
"I  can  undertake  to  lead  no  agitation  requiring 
platform  speaking.  My  throat  or  lungs  fail  me,  and 
I  am  always  beset  with  a  hoarseness.  I  fact,  I  am  nearly 
twenty  years  older  than  when  I  began  my  former 
labours,  and  no  man  can  repeat  himself — if  he  has 
done  anything  in  his  prime — in  the  decline  of  life. 
I  have  also  had  symptoms  both  at  my  head  and  heart 
which  warn  me  that  I  cannot  bear  the  same  tension 
as    of    old.     I    must    give    way    to    younger    men,    and 

211 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

it    would    be    only    misleading  the    public    to    give    any 
sanction    to   the  notion    that  I  can    lead  a  suffrage  agi- 
tation.      Between    ourselves    (and    I    do    not    write    for 
other    eyes),   I    think   those   friends  who  would  sanction 
my    rushing    into    the   streets  with  a  new  Reform    Bill, 
because   I  am   not  elected  to  Parliament,  take    a    rather 
low    estimate    of   what    is    due    to    oneself    under    such 
circumstances.      Besides,  even    as    a    matter  of   policy,   I 
must    say    that    I     think    the    very    worst    step    for    the 
interest  of   reform  which  could  be  taken    is  that  a  few 
disappointed   M.P.'s   should    inaugurate  a  movement   of 
the  kind.     If  it  cannot  be  made  to  originate  with  more 
disinterested  parties,  it  is  a  proof  that  there  is  no  great 
desire    for    reform.       But     this    applies    perhaps    more 
strongly   to  myself  than    to    many  other  ex-M.P.'s,   for 
1    have    never   taken   a   strong   and    continuous    line    on 
questions  of   organic  change.      I   repeat    my  advice — do 
not  tie  your    paper   to  any    shibboleth    on    the    suffrage 
question.      It    is    far    better    to  show  a  generally  liberal 
and    confiding    spirit    towards     the    masses,    and    evince 
your  friendly  animus  by   making  quotations   from  other 
papers  of  articles  favourable  to  the  democratic  principle 
— if  you   can  find  them — for  it  seems  to  me  that  never 
before    was    there    so    little     political    life    among     the 
masses  and    so  little  of   the  democratic    style    in    news- 
paper   articles.     The  secret  is  that  prosperity  has  made 
half-Tories    of   the  whole    people.      And    depend   on    it 
we    shall    see    this    state    of    feeling    bear    fruits    of    a 
retrograde  kind.      Let  me  suggest  that  whilst  you  hold 
your  own    pens    upon  the   China  Question,  and  abstain 
from    systematic    assaults    on     the    Palmerston     insanity, 
you    should    give    extracts    from     other    papers,    which 
appear     like    echoes    of    yourself,     and     therefore    give 
strength    to    your    own    opinions.     I    enclose    one    from 
a  Kent  paper.     In  fact    the  newspapers  are  doing  their 

212 


The  China  War  and  the    Indian    Mutiny 

work  well.  In  all  parts  of  the  country  there  are 
journals  which  repudiate  the  Palmerston  imposture,  and 
it  strikes  me  that  many  of  those  who  go  along  with 
the  stream  do  so  without  much  heartiness  as  if  they 
were  leaving  open  a  retreat.  In  your  articles  on  the 
Press,  don't  fail  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  just  tribute 
to  the  independence  of  so  many  journals.  This  is 
necessary  to  shield  you  from  the  charge  which  will 
be  attempted  of  your  being  an  assailant  of  the  entire 
newspaper    Press." 

"  April  22,  1857. 

"  I  have  been  thinking  about  the  expose  you  contem- 
plate respecting  the  illicit  and  secret  connection  between 
the  Government  and  the  Press.  The  way  to  inaugurate 
the  topic,  in  my  opinion,  is  this  :  write  a  leader,  taking 
for  your  text  the  correspondence  which  has  appeared 
in  the  columns  of  the  Star  about  anonymous  newspaper 
writing,  in  which,  after  a  compliment  to  the  Press 
generally  and  an  expression  of  confidence  in  the  future 
of  a  Press  now  for  the  first  time  for  a  century  and 
a  half  really  free,  and  after  declaring  for  perfect 
freedom  to  all  the  world  to  publish  their  opinions 
either  anonymously  or  with  their  signatures  as  they 
please,  refer  to  one  point  which  comes  out  of  the 
controversy,  viz.  the  practice  that  has  grown  up  in 
our  day  with  the  conductors  and  proprietors  of  certain 
papers  almost  exclusively  confined  to  the  metropolis 
of  connecting  themselves  with  the  Government  whilst 
preserving  a  strict  incognito  as  towards  the  public.  In 
other  words,  they  wear  the  mask  to  all  their  readers 
excepting  those  who  have  the  power  to  reward  them 
for  their  subserviency.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
this  system  has  been  carried  out  to  an  extent  little 
dreamed  of,  and  if  thoroughly  exposed  it  might  account 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

for    some    ot    the   great  changes    that    have  taken    place 
in     the    tone    and     politics    of    some    of    our    journals. 
Mr.    Disraeli     hinted     in    delicate     phrase    at    the    part 
played   by  the  present   Prime   Minister  in   this  system  of 
gaining    over    the    Press   when    he    said    in    his   opening 
speech    of  the    last  Session    that    he  (Lord    Palmerston) 
had    known    better    how    to    create    public    opinion     by 
artificial     means    than    any   Minister    since    the    time    of 
Bolingbroke    (refer     back     to    his     speech    for    what     he. 
said  :     it    was    in    reference    to    the    Belgrad     humbug). 
But    Lord    Palmerston    is    not    the   only   Minister.      He 
was    exposed,  and    unanswerably  proved    to    have    hired 
one    American    or   Polish  adventurer,   Wikoff,    to  write 
up    his   Peace    policy.     But    we     know    by    the    records 
ot    a  court    of   law  and    the  debates  in   Parliament  that 
Lord     Clarendon     when     in      Ireland     was     not     above 
suborning  a  newspaper  writer.      In   all   probability  other 
Ministers  and    Governments  have    been    as  bad,  though 
there  are  reasons  for  doubting  whether  Sir  Robert   Peel 
lent    himself   to    such   a  policy.      However,  as  a  matter 
of  principle,   a  system  of  secret  connection  between  the 
Press  and   the  Government  cannot  be  defended.     Open 
writing    as    by    law    in     France,    where    each    writer    is 
compelled  to  sign  his  name,  or,  as  in   the  United  States, 
when    the    name    of   the    proprietor    and    editor    of   the 
paper  (who  is  a    leader  of   his  political   party  and    rises 
to    the    highest    ranks    of    office)    is    published    on     the 
frontispiece  of  the  journal,  or  anonymous  writing  as  we 
profess    to    have   it  in   England,   may  be  either  of   them 
good   if   honestly  carried  out.      But  a  pretended  anony- 
mous system  which    preserves  secrecy  to    the    public  on 
the    plea    that    it    is    necessary    for    the    maintenance    of 
purity     and     independence,     and     then     discloses     names 
to  the  Government  and  sells  the  influence  thus  obtained 
by     false     pretences     over     the     public     to     the     highest 

214 


The  China   War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

bidders — such  a  system  cannot  be  defended,  and  ought 
to  be  exposed  bv  every  one  who  wishes  to  see  the 
practice    of   anonymous    writing    preserved. 

"  Now  as  a  matter  of  public  principle  the  Star,  which 
seeks  no  concealment  and  asks  no  quarter  for  itself,  will 
not  hesitate  to  expose  every  instance  of  Government 
patronage  being  extended  to  the  writers  and  proprietors 
of  the  periodical  Press.  We  hold  that  they  have  no  right- 
to  shrink  from  any  publicity  of  the  kind.  If  a  public 
man  takes  office  the  fact  is  known.  Why  should  not  the 
same  rule  apply  to  a  public  writer?  We  do  not  say  this 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  public  writers  from  taking 
office.  They  are  generally  the  best  informed  and  most 
competent  men,  and  therefore  the  very  men  who  ought 
to  be  held  eligible  to  fill  posts  in  the  public  service.  All 
we  stipulate  for  is  that  it  shall  be  done  openty  and  above- 
board,  and  for  the  promotion  of  this  end  we  shall  not 
scruple  to  use  whatever  facts  come  to  our  knowledge,  and 
we  have  already  some  which  may  afford  materials  for 
another   article." 

"  April  26,  1857. 
"  I  would  not  advise  you  at  -present  to  give  up  any  of 
the  space  in  the  Star  to  such  a  general  appeal  as  you  speak 
of  to  the  working  classes  '  showing  the  bearing  of  the 
present  war  svstem  on  their  condition.'  It  would  be 
much  better  to  let  striking  facts  come  out  incidentally — 
apropos  of  something.  A  series  of  letters  such  as  you 
speak  of  would  give  too  decidedly  the  character  of  an 
advocate  of  abstract  peace  views  to  the  Star  to  be  advis- 
able at  this  moment.  Besides,  there  is  enough  to  do  on 
special  topics  ;  and  this  brings  me  to  remark  that  you 
must  not  haul  down  the  flag  and  give  up  opposition  to 
the  Chinese  atrocity.  If  you  abandon  the  field,  it  will 
be  the  signal  for  those  papers  in  the  country  who  look 

215 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to  our  leading  them  to  follow  the  example.  The  late 
news  from  Washington  should  be  alluded  to.  I  stated 
in  my  speech  and  in  my  reply  that  I  had  reason  to  believe 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  would  have 
joined  this  country  and  France  in  a  pacific  representation 
to  the  Government  of  China  in  favour  of  greater  com- 
mercial facilities  or  rather  a  freer  intercourse  with  that 
Empire,  but  I  expressed  a  strong  conviction  that  the 
Government  of  Washington  would  be  no  party  to  our 
violent  proceedings  founded  on  the  Canton  massacre. 
(I  think  I  told  you  that  Dallas  read  to  me  confidentially 
a  letter  from  Marcy  to  this  effect.)  You  will  recollect 
that  Palmerston,  in  his  speech  on  my  motion,  also  stated 
that  before  the  Canton  affair  our  Government  had  been 
in  communication  with  that  of  France,  and  was  contem- 
plating also  applying  to  that  of  the  United  States  and 
that  he  was  in  hopes  he  would  have  succeeded  in  in- 
ducing those  Governments  to  join  us  in  a  representation 
to  the  Chinese  Government.  Well  now,  then,  will  the 
toadies  of  the  Government  tell  us  that  their  great  nego- 
tiator at  the  head  of  the  Government  who  has  had  all 
his  own  way  for  the  last  few  months  has  given  us  another 
diplomatic  triumph  at  Washington  ?  By  the  late  advices 
from  America  it  oozes  out  that  Lord  Napier  has  been 
instructed  to  invite  Mr.  Buchanan  to  join  us  in  our 
hostile  proceedings,  and  the  answer  he  has  received 
confirms  the  statement  made  by  Lord  Palmerston  as  to 
the  probability  that  the  Government  of  Washington 
would  have  joined  us  in  a  moral  demonstration  if  we 
had  applied  before  the  Canton  slaughter,  but  it  leaves 
no  doubt  that  that  Government  refuses  to  identify  itself 
with  the  sanguinary  operations  perpetrated  and  con- 
templated against  the  Chinese  people.  Here  then  we 
are  again  presented  to  the  world  as  unsuccessful  suitors 
at  Washington.      The  Minister  whom  we  are  called  upon 

2l6 


The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

to  fall  down  and  worship  for  his  infallible  wisdom  in 
foreign  affairs — or  if  not  for  wisdom  for  his  '  luck  ' — 
has  afforded  General  Cass  an  opportunity  of  snubbing 
us  and  sending  us  a  lecture  against  filibustering  before 
he  has  fairly  got  possession  of  his  office  of  Secretary  of 
State.  And  here  is  a  reason  sufficient,  if  any  were 
wanting,  for  condemning  Sir  John  Bowring's  hasty  and 
violent  proceedings — always  supposing  he  acted  on  his 
own  impulse  and  not  from  private  hints  from  home. 
Those  proceedings  have  prevented  our  having  the 
alliance  of  the  United  States.  They  leave  us  to  perform 
the  part  of  butchers  and  executioners  of  a  mob  of 
defenceless  Chinese,  and  in  the  end  America  will  step  in 
for  the  full  participation  in  any  concessions  we  may 
extort  from  that  people,  retaining  a  friendly  footing 
which  we  shall  have  for  ever  lost  with  them,  and  which 
their  merchants  and  citizens  will  turn  to  account  in  their 
future  intercourse  in  China.  And  all  this  might  have 
been  avoided  if  Sir  John  Bowring  could  have  repressed 
for  a  few  months  his  monomania  for  entering-  with  cocked 
hat  and  feathers  the  gates  of  Canton." 

"May  15,  1857. 
"  I  quite  agree  with  you  as  to  the  propriety  of  the 
Star  keeping  manfully  to  its  colours.  It  is  the  only  way, 
even  in  a  mercantile  point  of  view,  to  insure  any  success. 
I  concur  also  in  the  view  you  take  of  the  ferocious  spirit 
in  the  country  which  requires  repressing,  and  the  mission 
of  the  Star  was  undoubtedly  to  repress  that  spirit.  But 
even  in  this  you  must  use  so  much  tact  as  to  prevent  the 
paper  sinking  as  a  newspaper  and  becoming  a  daily  Peace 
Herald.  The  first  and  only  condition  of  any  success  is 
to  establish  the  Star  as  a  newspaper.  I  am  more  and 
more  convinced  that  this  war  spirit  has  been  generated 
and    kept   alive  by  our  career  in  the  East.     Our  Asiatic 

217 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

morality  has  come  back  to  plague  us.  We  are  whipped 
with  our  own  pleasant  vices.  Recollect  we  have  never 
been  free  from  the  excitement  of  bloody  campaigns  for 
more  than  three  or  four  years  at  a  time,  and  those  battles 
of  the  Punjab  in  particular  were  on  a  scale  almost  to 
equal  in  slaughter  some  of  Napoleon's  great  engagements. 
"  As  respects  the  Examiner — as  it  is  the  worst  and 
most  barefaced  offender,  it  ought  to  be  attacked  the  first, 
and  certainly  nothing  could  be  more  glaring  than  its 
subservient  wheel-round  on  the  China  question.  Observe 
how  manfully  it  keeps  to  its  old  Radical  opinions  upon 
the  ballot,  which  is  not  a  pinching  question  with  the 
Ministry.  If  it  were,  it  would  bully  its  advocates  for 
endangering  the  Ministry.  The  course  they  take  is  just 
that  of  a  class  of  politicians  in  the  House  who  enter  it 
with  ultra  professions  of  Radicalism  and  vote  accordingly 
when  there  is  no  chance  of  succeeding,  but  shrink  away 
directly  the  Ministry  is  likely  to  be  put  in  the  minority." 

'■'■June  16,  1857. 
"  Jemmy  Wilson  was  a  worker  in  connection  with  the 
League.  He  wrote  dull  pamphlets  and  made  duller 
speeches,  but  still  he  showed  some  Scotch  pertinacity  in 
keeping  alive  the  agitation  in  the  metropolis.  When  we 
dissolved  our  organization  and  gave  up  the  '  League  ' 
weekly  organ,  a  lithographed  circular  was  sent  to  all  its 
subscribers  recommending  them  to  support  the  Econo- 
mist, which  he  had  previously  started,  and  Bright  and 
I,  George  Wilson  and  others,  signed  this  circular.  This 
was  the  foundation  of  Wilson's  fortune,  which  was  in 
a  sickly  state  previously.  The  Economist  became  the 
stepping-stone  to  Office.  When  Wilson  entered  the 
Ministry,  Mr.  William  Grey  became  a  leading  contri- 
butor and  a  sort  of  locum  tenens  for  the  proprietor,  with 
whom  he  was  on  intimate  terms.     After  a  while  Wilson, 

2l8 


The  China   War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  became  a  dispenser  of 
Government  patronage,  and  he  presented  Grey  last  year 
with  the  appointment  of  a  Commissioner  of  Customs,  a 
post  involving  so  little  occupation  that  it  will  not  inter- 
fere with  his  literary  labours,  but  for  which  he  pockets 
^1,200  a  year.  Thus  the  two  principal  contributors  to 
the  Economist  having  secured,  the  one  £1,000  a  year  and 
the  other  £  1,200  from  the  public  purse,  what  so  natural 
as  that  the  paper  should  be  the  obsequious  servant  of  the 
Government,  or  that  the  Economist's  pages  should  be 
employed  in  assailing  the  two  men  who  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  all  this  success,  if  they  happen  no  longer  to  be 
in  favour  with  the  dispensers  of  patronage  ?  You  may 
bring  out  these  facts  in  any  way  you  like.  But  I  think 
a  lively,  brief,  touch-and-go  style  of  showing  up  these 
people  is  the  best.  Put  it  in  a  short  quotable  form,  and 
not  as  a  solemn  argument.  And  it  might  be  said  that 
there  are  some  other  papers  which  are  now  so  zealously 
devoted  to  the  Government  and  so  busily  assailing  all 
who  are  not  equally  devoted  to  the  powers  that  be  for 
whose  conduct  equally  substantial  reasons  may  by  and  by 
be  produced.  There  is  far  more  corruption  going  on  in 
connection  with  the  public  Press  than  in  any  other  -walk  0j 
political  life. " 

"■June  20,  1857. 
"  Lord  Goderich  allows  the  accompanying  to  be 
published,  he  having  made  such  suppressions  as  to  re- 
move all  trace  of  the  writer.  Be  good  enough  to  see 
that  it  be  correctly  printed,  especially  as  regards  the 
proper  names.  I  think  you  should  give  prominence  to 
it  by  leaded  type  and  then  draw  attention  to  it  in  a 
leader  printed  in  the  same  paper.  Begin  your  leading 
article  with  '  We  invite  the  attention  of  our  readers  to 
a    letter,    not    penned    with    the   view   to    publication,   in 

219 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

another  column,  written  by  one  who,  from  his  long 
residence  in  the  country  and  his  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  language,  ranks  among  the  highest  authorities  on 
Chinese  affairs.'  Then  comment  in  this  fashion  :  There 
are  two  very  important  statements  in  his  letter,  one  a 
matter  of  fact,  and  the  other  the  expression  of  an 
opinion.  The  writer  says  we  have  been  dealing  in 
something  very  like  falsehood  in  our  official  correspon- 
dence. '  From  all  sides,'  says  he,  '  I  learnt  at  Hong- 
Kong  that  the  Arrow  lorcha  had  no  flag  flying  at  all. 
Of  course  the  Chinese  know  this  still  more  certainly 
than  the  English,  and  will  have  little  faith  in  our 
official  averments  in  future.'  Inasmuch,  however,  as 
our  Government  have  determined  that  this  falsehood 
shall  be  made  the  pretence  for  an  attack  upon  China, 
the  more  practical  question  now  is — what  will  be  the 
result  of  the  war  ?  On  this  subject  the  writer  of  the 
letter  assumes  that  a  force  will  be  sent  to  take  possession 
of  Canton.  Nothing  more  easy.  A  few  thousand 
troops  occupying  the  high  ground  and  approaches  to 
the  city,  and  it  must  open  its  gates  to  escape  being  blown 
up  or  starved.  What  will  then  happen  ?  According 
to  this  well-informed  writer,  it  will  be  the  signal  for 
a  general  rising  of  the  disaffected  throughout  the  still 
tranquil  portions  of  the  south  of  China,  and  the  whole 
country  will  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  anarchy  worse 
than  any  merely  internal  troubles  could  have  produced, 
and  it  can  hardly  fail  to  end  in  the  Manchoo  power 
being  definitely  destroyed  in  Kwangtung  and  Kwangsee 
(two  provinces  containing  a  population  of  perhaps  forty 
millions).  And  if  we  go  on  with  a  sufficient  force  we 
are  told  by  the  same  authority  we  shall  '  clinch  the  fate 
of  the  Imperial  Government  '  and  throw  an  empire  of 
four  hundred  millions  into  a  state  of  anarchy  out  or 
which   in   the  course  of  a  generation  or  two  a  successful 

220 


The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

pretender    may   arise    to    fill    the    throne    of   the   Tartar 
dynasty.      Hut   how  is  all  this  to   promote    our   interests 
as    a    commercial    people  ?     We    see    The    Times    gives 
prominence    to    the    communication    of    a    correspondent 
who   recommends   us   to   hold   possession  of  Canton  and 
— drain     it  !       We     rather     think     the     war     will     be 
accompanied   by  a  drain  of  a  more  serious   kind   in   the 
demand    for   specie  which  will    arise   in  consequence    of 
the  insecurity  and    hoarding    which    always  accompanies 
a  state  of  civil  war  and  confusion.      Already  the  demand 
for   silver   to   remit    to    China    is   seriously   affecting    the 
European     money     markets.     Not     only     the     maritime 
trade    but    the   overland    traffic    through    Siberia    seems 
to  be  diverting  large  amounts  of  silver  from  its  ordinary 
channels.     We   see   it    stated    in    the    Russian    accounts 
that  the  Chinese  traders  at  Kiachta  will  accept  nothing 
but  specie  in  exchange  for  their  teas  and  silks.     As  soon 
as    it    is    known    throughout    that    vast    empire  that  we 
have  landed  an  army  and  taken  possession    of   Canton, 
followed  as  we  are  told  it  will   be  by  fresh  successes  of 
the    rebels,    the    effect    will    everywhere    be    to    cause    a 
disappearance  of  the   precious   metals.     The   people  will 
be    anxious    to    put     aside,    probably    under   ground,    as 
much    silver     as    will     insure   to    themselves    and    their 
families  the   means  of  subsistence  whatever  may  happen. 
The     merchants     and    agriculturists     who     have     been 
accustomed   to   deal   with   foreigners  will  be  more  eager 
than  ever  to  sell  off  their  stocks,  but   less  disposed  than 
ever    to     take    anything    in    exchange    but    hard     cash. 
The  expenditure  for  the  war  will  cause  also  an  increased 
export    of  specie    to   China.     At   first   the   eagerness   to 
sell  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  may  keep  down  the  prices 
of  their   produce,  but  ultimately,  if  the   rebellion    in   the 
interior    should,   as    is    predicted    by   the    writer    of    the 
letter,  assume  a  state  of  prolonged   anarchy,  it  may   by 

221 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

checking  production  lead  to  a  scarcity  and  rise  in  the 
value  of  tea  and  silk.  How  all  this  is  to  benefit  our 
merchants  trading  with  China,  who  we  are  told  are 
clamorous  for  the  war,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  understand. 
We  have  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  some  of  the  Canton 
houses  who  pocketed  the  millions  of  dollars  which  were 
extorted  from  the  Chinese  Government  for  '  compensa- 
tion '  at  the  close  of  the  last  war  are  looking  to  a 
like  source  of  profit  on  the  present  occasion.  But  if 
the  appearance  of  our  fleets  and  armies  on  the  coast 
of  China  should  lead  to  the  consequences  indicated 
by  the  letter-writer,  there  may  be  no  Government  with 
which  to  treat — who  knows  but  we  may  be  step  by  step 
drawn  into  a  participation  in  the  civil  broils  of  that 
vast  empire  ?  And  all  this  in  support  of  our  authorities 
whose  first  quarrel,  according  to  the  admission  of  all 
parties  at  Hong-Kong,  was  founded  in  no  better  plea 
than   a  falsehood  !  " 

">/)<5,  1857. 
"  No  man  on  earth  can  tell  what  the  "result  of  the 
Indian  events  will  be,  for  as  they  spring  from  ignorant 
panic,  their  direction  or  tendency  cannot  be  foretold 
by  any  process  of  reasoning.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a 
slumbering  discontent  everywhere  in  India  among  the 
poor  Hindoos,  but  it  has  no  political  bearing — it  ex- 
pends itself  on  the  nearest  policeman  or  tax-collector. 
'['he  remote  consequences  of  this  outbreak  are  by  far 
the  more  important.  All  Asia  will  prick  up  its  ears 
when  it  hears  that  our  'extinguisher  has  taken  fire.' 
Persia  and  Afghanistan  will  'harden  their  faces'  towards 
us  and  Russia  will  think  of  old  grudges.  I  am  curious 
to  see  what  the  effect  will  be  on  the  Burmese  when  they 
hear  of  the  news  and  learn  that  our  force  in  Pekin  has 
been  weakened.       The  Burmese  have  never  acknowledged 

222 


The  China  War  and  the    Indian    Mutiny 

our  right  to  that  province  in  any  treaty.  Then  there 
is  Oude,  of  which  we  have  heard  but  little,  and  nothing 
from  Scinde." 

">/j>    12,    1857. 

"  You  are  a  dreamer  to  talk  of  my  being  ever  in  an 
official  situation  of  influence.  My  views  separate  me 
more  and  more  from  the  practical  statesmanship  of  the 
day  and  render  it  less  probable  that  I  shall  ever  be  in 
office.  I  hardly  think  Sumner  is  in  a  way  to  be  very 
differently  situated  in  his  country  !  I  admire  him  the 
more  because  he  has  not  subordinated  his  conscientious 
convictions  to  the  ordinary   ambition  of  the  politician." 

"Jufy  16,1857. 
"  Beware  of  allowing  a  tone  of  exultation  over  the 
Indian  troubles  to  appear  in  your  articles.  I  thought 
1  perceived  such  a  spirit  in  the  Star  article  yesterday. 
The  public  are  not  prepared  for  such  a  tone,  and  it  will 
be  put  down  to  want  of  patriotism  or  even  to  a  corrupt 
motive.  You  and  I  are  sufficiently  cosmopolitan  to  see 
that  our  doings  in  India  deserve  a  retributive  visitation. 
But  the  dear  self-complacent  people  of  England  persuade 
themselves  that  we  take  all  the  trouble  to  conquer  the 
Hindoos  for  their  benefit,  and  to  spread  the  light  of 
Christianity  among  them,  and  that  they  are  very  un- 
grateful to  rise  against  those  who  are  their  disinterested 
friends  !  The  only  process  by  which  we  shall  be  dis- 
abused of  this  comfortable  delusion  is  that  which  is 
now  going  on  in  India.  There  will  be  constantly  re- 
curring troubles  and  difficulties  in  our  path,  and  in  the 
end  people  will  begin  to  ask  themselves — what  benefit 
do  we  derive  from  the  '  possession  '  of  India  ?  and  it 
will  then  one  day  be  looked  upon  as  the  worst  '  bad 
debt '  the  nation  has  on  its  hands.      Meantime  unhappily 

223 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

we  are  rooting  out  these  elements  of  self-government 
in  India  and  by  the  time  we  become  disgusted  and 
throw  up  the  impossible  task  there  will  be  nothing  left 
in  the  way  of  a  governing  class  or  authority,  and  we 
shall  abandon  the  nation,  as  Rome  did  our  ancestors,  to 
intestine  anarchy  and  foreign  conquest." 

"July  23,  1857. 
"  Bv  the  way,  there  was  an  article  against  the  discordant 
proceedings  in  the  House  on  Friday,  and  calling  for 
some  restrictions  on  the  right  of  members  to  moot 
questions  on  the  motion  of  adjournment  till  Monday. 
That  article  was  well  written,  but  it  struck  me  that 
it  might  have  been  the  production  of  a  new  M.P.,  for 
the  views  were  not  such  as  from  my  longer  experience 
1  should  have  taken  of  the  subject.  It  appears  very 
irregular  and  disorderly  to  talk  of  Persian  wars  and 
Isthmus  Canals,  etc.,  on  the  motion  that  '  the  House  at 
its  rising  do  adjourn  till  Monday  next,'  but  the  party 
chiefly  inconvenienced  is  the  Minister  of  the  day, 
and  the  parties  who  profit  by  the  practice  are  indepen- 
dent members,  and  the  Opposition,  and,  through  them, 
the  public.  Almost  every  other  mode  of  bringing 
forward  a  subject  on  a  given  day  to  meet  an  emergency 
has  been  taken  from  individual  members,  whilst  the 
Government  has  acquired  a  constantly  increasing  power 
over  the  proceedings  of  the  House.  Formerly  a  member 
could  make  a  speech  and  raise  a  debate  on  presenting 
a  petition,  and  Lord  Brougham  has  declared  that  in 
this  way  he  achieved  some  of  the  greatest  triumphs  for 
the  people.  Then  still  more  lately  it  was  possible  to 
raise  an  amendment  to  reading  the  orders  of  the  day. 
These  opportunities  are  now  no  longer  available.  The 
old  privilege  of  moving  an  amendment  to  going  into 
Committee  of  Supply  has  been  retained,  but    even    this 

224 


The  China  War  and  the    Indian    Mutiny 

has  undergone  some  restriction.  Now  all  these  restric- 
tions, though  thev  seem  to  facilitate  business,  are  cur- 
tailments  of  the  popular  influence  in  the  House,  and 
afford  a  convenient  shield  to  the  governing  class.  As 
respects  the  question  more  immediately  at  issue — the 
right  of  speaking  on  the  question  of  adjournment  on 
Fridays — I  have  known  most  damaging  results  to  the 
Ministry  of  the  day  arise  from  those  brief  discussions, 
and  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  see  the  opportunity  for 
firing  an  occasional  shot  at  the  Government  abolished. 
The  Liberals  are  putting  their  heads  into  nooses  laid 
by  their  '  betters '  in  all  directions,  and  nothing  will 
surprise  me  in  that  way.  But  beware  how  you  lend 
yourself  in  the  Star  unconsciously  to  such  proceedings. 
"  I  was  glad  you  fired  that  shot  at  Thackeray,  and 
still  more  so  to  find  that  it  helped  to  bring  him 
down.  Those  sentimentalists  are  very  unreliable  poli- 
ticians. Look  at  the  greatest  of  the  class,  Lamartine  : 
after  all  his  magnificent  mouthings  about  national 
integrity,  justice,  and  liberty,  see  how  he  was  prepared 
to  imitate  Frederick  or  Napoleon  in  his  treatment  of 
Italy.  There  is  nothing  after  all  in  a  politician  like 
the  stern  logic  of  a  Jefferson  or  a  Calhoun.  They 
mav  sometimes  start  from  wrong  premises,  but  when 
once    started    you  always  know  where  they  are  going." 

"August  13,  1857. 
"  It  appears  to  me  that,  being  on  the  spot  where 
information  can  be  had,  you  ought  to  be  able  to  rip 
up  with  a  trenchant  blade  such  affairs  as  that  of  the 
Principalities.  It  is  clear  to  me  that  the  facts  are 
these  :  The  English  ambassador,  as  usual,  has  leave  for 
bullying  down  all  opposition  at  Constantinople.  He 
was  encouraged  up  to  a  certain  point  to  go  with 
Austria  and    Turkey  against    the   Union.     Tricks    were 

225  P 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

resorted  to  to  obtain  a  simulated  expression  of  opinion 
at  the  elections  in  opposition  to  Union.  These  tricks 
were  detected  and  exposed  by  the  representatives  of 
the  four  Powers.  Still,  as  usual,  Lord  Stratford 
encouraged  the  Porte  to  persist  in  his  views  and  to 
resist  the  representations  of  Russia,  France,  Prussia 
and  Sardinia.  Then  comes  Louis  Nap.  to  Osborne 
knowing  our  Indian  straits,  and  I  am  told  the  substance 
of  what  he  said  to  Palmerston  then  amounted  to  this  : 
'  I  have  sacrificed  two  French  Ambassadors  to  the 
arrogance  of  your  representative  at    Constantinople,  but 

I'll  see  you  d d  before   I   offer  up  another  victim  to 

the  same  impracticable  temper.'  Then  Palmerston,  of 
course,  draws  in,  but  he  dares  not  throw  overboard 
Lord  Stratford,  who  knows  too  much  and  has  him  in 
his  power,  and  so  then  the  only  question  is  how  he 
shall  mystify  the  public,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  truculent 
Times  beat  a  retreat  without  exposing  his  defeat  ;  and 
so  the  Conference  is  to  meet  again  at  Paris.  This  is, 
I  suppose,  agreed  to  by  Louis  Nap.,  just  as  he  did 
in  the  silly  Belgrad  business,  because  it  plays  the  game 
of  his  British  colleagues,  with  no  loss  of  prestige  but 
rather  the  contrary  to  himself,  for  it  is  another  excuse 
for  a  Conference  at  Paris,  and  the  more  of  them  the 
better  it  pleases  the  Parisians.  But  now  comes  the 
transparent  and  childish  character  of  the  whole  game. 
For  if  four  of  the  parties  to  the  Conference  are 
already  known  to  be  on  one  side,  and  only  three  on 
the  other,  everybody  can  see  what  the  decision  will 
be  without  the  seven  men  meeting  again  at  the  same 
table.  If  one  could  believe  that  anything  will  restore 
us  again  to  a  reign  of  common  sense  and  ordinary 
morality  in  our  Foreign  Affairs,  surely  such  displays 
of  childlike  folly  as  these  might  bring  a  better  state 
of  things.     But  1  fear  the  big  baby  of  a  British  public 

226 


The  China  War  and   the    Indian    Mutiny 

is    only    to    be    amused    by    such    rattles    and    straws  as 
Palir.erston   knows  how  to  exhibit  to  him." 


"I  August  14,  1857. 
"  The  Times  is  adding  to  the  difficulty  of  our  forces 
by  threatening  wholesale  slaughter  in  case  we  succeed. 
What  is  this  but  inviting  the  Sepoys  to  fight  to  the 
last  with  no  risk  of  loss  even  if  they  are  slain,  for 
that  will  only  save  them  from  the  scaffold  ?  But  the 
most  senseless  part  of  this  tomahawk  style  of  writing 
is  that  it  really  means  nothing  but  sound  and  fury — 
for  even  the  editor  of  The  Times  himself  does  not 
propose  that  the  eighty  thousand  Sepoys  who  are  in 
revolt  shall  be  hung  or  shot,  as  would  undoubtedly  be 
the  case  if  the  mutinv  had  been  confined  to  half  a 
dozen.  Even  the  fire-eaters  themselves  would  make 
some  difference  in  deference  to  the  numbers  involved. 
They  would  act  as  a  matter  of  policy  upon  the  sound- 
ness of  the  late  Sir  Charles  Napier's  dictum  in  a 
similar  case  when  he  said,  '  Punishing  by  wholesale 
makes  hatred,  not  obedience.'  These  writers  know 
right  well  that  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  propriety  of  punishing  unsparingly  those  wretches 
who  tortured  and  slew  women  and  children.  'That  is 
not  the  question  at  issue.  But  when  they  call  for  the 
destruction  of  a  town  like  Delhi  or  the  indiscriminate 
massacre  of  Sepoy  prisoners,  they  prove  themselves 
just  as  unfit  to  guide  the  conduct  of  government  even 
in  matters  of  policy  as  they  are  to  be  the  guardians  of 
the  country's  character  for  religion  or  humanity." 

''•August  27,  1857. 
"  There   is  one  thought  ever   recurring   to  my  mind. 
How  is  it  possible  that  we,  a  Christian   and  a  superior 
race,  can   have  been  for  a  century  in  close  contact  with 

227 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

this  people  and  produced  no  better  results  than  these? 
Has  not  our  conduct  been  such  as  to  imbue  the  minds 
of  the  native  population  not  only  with  hatred  but 
contempt  for  us  ?  I  fear  this  is  in  part  the  solution 
for  the  otherwise  unaccountable  outrages  and  barbari- 
ties inflicted  upon  the  British.  We  do  not  read  of 
such  vindictive  and  merciless  traits  in  the  mode  of 
warfare  in  India  generally.  Take  the  case  of  all 
others  most  likely  to  present  the  natives  under  the 
influence  of  the  most  ferocious  passions — that  of  the 
invasion  of  Afghanistan.  We  don't  iind  Shah  Soojah 
and  Akbar  Khan  cutting  our  women  and  children  who 
fell  into  their  hands  to  pieces.  Even  among  the  Red 
Indians  of  North  America,  those  tribes  who  have  been 
for  a  generation  or  two  in  close  intercourse  with  the 
whites  (such  as  the  Seminolis,  Cherokees,  etc.)  are 
incapable  of  such  *  horrors.'  It  is  only  the  Comanches 
and  others  who  have  hardly  been  brought  in  contact 
with  Christians  who  are  sometimes  accused  of  adhering 
to  their  old  barbarities  to  their  prisoners.  How  can 
we  account  for  these  unnatural  cruelties  among  our 
fellow-subjects  in  India  upon  any  theory  which  is  not 
a  mournful  reproach  to  ourselves  as  the  conquering 
and  dominant  race  ?  And  having  had  this  revelation 
of  the  state  of  the  population  in  Hindostan,  what  a 
perspective  of  sacrifices,  difficulties  and  dangers  does 
the  future  government  of  such  a  people  offer  to  a 
reflective  mind  !  " 

"November  23,  1857. 
"  What  does  Miall  mean  by  so  ostentatiously  pro- 
claiming that  he  would  recover  our  dominion  in  India 
at  '  any  cost  '  ?  He  is  not  the  man  generally  to  use 
phrases  in  a  vague  and  parrot  fashion.  But  surely  he 
has  never  fairly  considered   his  position    in  this  matter. 

228 


The  China  War  and  the   Indian    Mutiny 

He  acknowledges  the  criminal  means  by  which  we  got 
possession  of  that  Empire,  and  makes  that  the  plea  for 
holding  it  at  any  cost  of  life  and  treasure — for  cost  in 
war  means  men  as  well  as  money — for  the  purpose  of 
benefiting  the  people  of  India.  But  what  right  has 
he  to  assume  that  we  shall  govern  that  country  well  ? 
Take  the  very  test  which  he  himself  applied  to  that 
of  the  State  Church  principle.  He  declares  that  he 
would  be  against  our  holding  India  if  it  were  to  be 
followed  by  our  enforcing  the  endowment  principles 
there.  But  after  sanctioning  any  amount  of  waste 
and  slaughter  in  reconquering  India,  what  guarantee 
has  he  that  this  principle  will  not  be  carried  out  ? 
Can  he  prevent  it  there  any  more  than  he  can  here  ? 
Does  not  he  know  that  there  is  a  religious  body  in 
this  country,  ten  times  as  potent  as  he  and  his  party, 
in  favour  of  Government  propagandism  there  ?  Doesn't 
he  know  that  the  principle  is  in  full  operation,  bishops 
and  all,  in  Hindostan  ?  Does  not  he  know  that  every 
chaplain  for  every  regiment  in  India  is  paid  his  yearly 
salary  out  of  the  hard  earnings  of  the  Hindoos, 
and  that  crowds  of  retired  Christian  clergymen  and 
their  descendants  are  living  in  England  on  pensions 
annually  remitted  from  the  same  source  ?  And  yet 
he  would  sanction  the  waste  of  any  amount  of  blood 
and  treasure  in  reconquering  India  on  the  plea  of 
setting  up  the  voluntary  principle !  Was  ever  self- 
delusion  so  powerful  in  blinding  a  really  acute  and 
logical  thinker  ? 

"  But  Miall  knows  surely  when  he  speak  of  '  India ' 
as  a  whole  that  he  uses  a  word  which  has  a  very 
indefinite  sense  as  applied  to  our  relations  with  the 
peninsula  of  Hindostan.  With  some  of  the  territories 
of  India  he  might  fairly  argue  that  it  would  be 
impossible    to  resign   our    authority    into    the    hands    of 

229 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

more  rightful  rulers  than  ourselves,  inasmuch  as  there 
are  no  descendants  of  some  of  those  sovereigns  who 
were  deposed  by  our  earlier  conquerors  in  that  region. 
But  he  knows  that  this  does  not  apply  to  our  latest 
acquisitions  to  Scinde,  Burma,  the  Punjaub  (whose 
righttul  heir  is  a  visitor  occasionally  at  our  Court), 
and  above  all  to  Oude — the  latest  and  worst  of  all 
our  violations  of  right  and  justice.  What  would  he 
do  with  these  if  the  whole  of  them  should  rise  as 
Oude  has  done  against  us  ?  He  was  in  the  House 
when  Lord  Dalhousie  returned  red-handed  from  more 
extensive  if  not  more  flagitious  acts  of  spoliation  than 
had  been  perpetrated  by  any  Governor-General  who 
preceded  him,  yet  he  was  rewarded  by  Government 
with  the  tacit  assent  of  Parliament  for  his  acts.  And 
now,  when  by  the  admission  of  all,  the  whole  population 
of  Oude  is  up  in  arms  fighting  for  their  rights,  fight- 
ing with  as  much  title  to  the  rank  of  patriots  as  was 
bestowed  on  Swiss  or  Dutch  in  their  wars  of  indepen- 
dence, Mr.  Miall,  who  has  not  a  syllable  to  say  in 
defence  of  our  rights  in  the  first  place  to  depose  the 
king  of  Oude  and  seize  his  territory,  would  now 
sanction  the  conquering  of  it  at  any  cost.  That  which 
was  not  justifiable  five  years  ago  must  now  be  perpe- 
trated because  of  that  injustice !  But  then  Mr.  Miall 
will  indemnify  the  people  of  Oude  by  preventing  the 
Government  of  this  country  from  establishing  the  en- 
dowment principle  in  Oude — if  he  can?" 

"  Wednesday. 
"  Let  the  essay  style  be  avoided  in  the  Star.  I  can 
illustrate  what  I  have  to  say  by  reference  to  the  article 
yesterday  upon  foreign  policy.  The  first  paragraph 
would  be  good  for  a  magazine  article — it  is  an  exordium 
preparing  one  for  an  argument  and  the  reader  is  warned 

230 


The  China   War  and  the    Indian   Mutiny 

to  compose  himself  for  a  course  of  instructive  reasoning. 
Now  this  is  precisely  what  the  readers  of  a  penny  paper 
don't  want — or  rather  they  must  not  be  told  that 
they  want  it,  or  they  skip  away  to  something  else. 
The  article,  good  in  itself,  would  have  been  far  better 
if  it  had  commenced  with  '  Nobody  in  England  except 
the  dozen  noblemen  and  gentlemen,'  etc.  All  that 
precedes  gives  a  repulsive  heaviness  to  the  aspect  of 
the  article.  I  can  never  too  strongly  impress  on  you 
the  necessity  of  making  everything  ad  rem  or  ad  hominem, 
and  plunging  at  once  in  the  outset  into  the  midst  of 
the  subject.  It  is  in  newspaper  writing  as  it  was  with 
our  League  agitation.  I  used  always  to  lay  it  down 
as  a  rule  that  the  audiences  at  our  meetings  must  be 
taught  without  their  knowing  it,  and  that  a  course  of 
amusement  and  excitement  must  predominate  over  the 
labour  of  learning,  or  the  same  parties  would  not  come  to 
a  second  meeting  ;  and  as  I  knew  we  should  want  them 
year  after  year  to  listen,  work  and  pay,  I  was  obliged 
in  all  my  popular  harangues  to  throw  in  a  spice  of 
amusing  ingredients  which  I  used  to  call  'eating  fire, 
pulling  ribbons  out  of  my  mouth,  or  standing  on  my 
head '  for  their  amusement,  like  the  clown  at  the  fair. 
I  remember  how  I  was  often  ashamed  at  reading  the 
reports  of  my  lighter  passages  in  the  paper  next  day,  but 
there  was  no  alternative.  If  1  had  confined  myself  to  a 
process  of  reasoning  in  which  instruction  was  the  obvious 
end  in  view,  the  audience  would  not  have  followed  me 
through  and  would  certainly  never  have  come  to  hear 
me  a  second  time.  Here  is  a  confession  and  a  lecture 
for  you. 

"  Observe  the  accompanying  figures  showing  the  great 
increase  in  the  circulation  of  the  Leeds  Mercury  conse- 
quent on  the  war.  The  same  rule  will  apply  to  all  news- 
papers,  and   it  shows  the  interest   they  have   in  keeping 

231 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

it  alive.  It  is  amusing  to  see  the  Mercury  taking 
to  itself  the  merit  of  having  always  displayed  the 
'  warmest  attachment  to  Peace '  !  Whv,  it  is  notorious 
that  there  has  never  been  a  war,  even  including  the 
Opium  War,  that  it  has  not  defended,  and  you  know 
it  was  by  a  mere  accident  that  I  was  in  time  to  stop 
it  from  joining  in   the  cry  of  the   French  invasion. 

"  These  newspaper  statistics  must  be  turned  to  account 
by  and  by,  as  a  warning  to  the  public  how  they  follow 
guides  who  may  have  an    interest    in    misleading    them. 

"  The  Mercury^  like  all  the  other  '  religious  '  papers, 
is  a  good  lover  of  peace  in  the  abstract." 


2.3? 


CHAFFER    IX 

AN    INTERLUDE    OF    PEACE 

After  1857  Cobden's  epistolary  intercourse  with  Mr. 
Richard  grew  less  frequent  and  less  full,  though  never 
long  interrupted  except  during  his  visits  to  America 
and  France.  Out  of  the  House  and  living  in  retire- 
ment at  his  country  home,  with  only  occasional  visits 
to  London,  Cobden  found  comparatively  little  in  1858 
to  arouse  him  to  activity.  The  settlement  of  India, 
the  China  War  still  lingering,  and  relics  of  the  Borneo 
affair  are  chief  topics  in  his  letters  to  Mr.  Richard, 
and  his  intercourse  with  Mr.  Bright  and  other 
correspondents  was  slighter  than  usual.  In  addition 
to  this  lull  in  public  affairs,  much  of  Cobden's  attention 
this  year  was  necessarily  absorbed  by  the  critical  con- 
dition of  his  private  finance.  A  large  proportion  of 
his  resources  had  been  invested  in  shares  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railway,  which,  though  a  sound  concern  and  des- 
tined to  a  career  of  great  prosperity,  was  yet  an  infant 
requiring  constant  supplies  of  fresh  financial  food,  in  the 
shape  of 'calls'  upon  share  capital.  At  the  close  of  the  year 
Cobden  sailed  for  his  second  visit  to  the  United  States, 
going  on  behalf  of  English  shareholders  to  examine  on 
the  spot  the  railroad  and  its  management.  Needless 
to  add  he  used  his  eyes,  ears,  and  understanding  to 
take  in  a  large  fresh  stock  of  information  and  of 
opinions,  and  was  greatly  cheered  by  the  signs  of 
progress    which     he    everywhere    detected.     "  It    is    the 

233 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

universal  hope  of  rising  in  the  social  scale  which  is 
the  key  to  much  of  the  superiority  that  is  visible  in 
this  country.  It  accounts  for  the  orderly  self-respect 
which  is  the  great  characteristic  of  the  masses  in  the 
United  States.  .  .  .  All  this  tends  to  the  argument  that 
the  political  condition  of  a  people  is  very  much  dependent 
on  its  economical  fate."1 

During  his  absence  in  America  in  the  early  months  of 
1859  Disraeli's  Reform  Bill  led  to  the  defeat  of  the 
Government  and  the  election  of  a  new  Parliament  in 
May.  Cobden  was  returned  without  a  contest  for  Roch- 
dale, and  on  his  return  to  England  at  the  end  of  June 
was  greeted  by  a  letter  from  the  Prime  Minister  (Lord 
Palmerston),  offering  him  a  seat  in  the  new  Cabinet  as 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  His  refusal  of  this 
offer,  strongly  urged  upon  him  by  many  of  his  closest 
friends,  and  the  motives  which  actuated  him,  made  this 
incident  the  crowning  point  in  a  career  of  principle 
which  to  the  ordinary  politician  of  his  day,  or  ours, 
would  appear  quixotic.  The  negotiation  with  Palmerston 
is  particularly  interesting  in  showing  that  the  centre  of 
Cobden's  policy  was  not  Free  Trade  but  foreign  policy. 
The  tempter  put  his  lure  with  great  astuteness.  "  You 
and  your  friends  complain  of  secret  diplomacy,  and  that 
wars  are  entered  into  without  consulting  the  people. 
Now  it  is  in  the  Cabinet  alone  that  questions  of  foreign 
policy  are  settled.  We  never  consult  Parliament  till 
after  they  are  settled.  If,  therefore,  you  wish  to  have 
a  voice  in  these  questions,  you  can  only  do  so  in  the 
Cabinet." 

Though,    doubtless,    Cobden's    decision    was    affected 
largely   by   the  dislike  of  sitting  in   the  Government  of 
a  man  whose  whole  character  and   career  he  had  persist- 
ently distrusted  and  assailed,  and  of  the  misunderstand- 
?   Letter  to  John  Bright  ("  Life,"  ii.  224). 
234 


An   Interlude  of  Peace 

ings  to  which  his  entrance  upon  office  under  Palmerston 
would  inevitably  give  rise,  the  final  determining  motive 
of  his  refusal  lay  deeper  still.  He  did  not  wish  to  form 
part  of  a  bad  system  of  secret  Cabinet  diplomacy.  He 
was  "  out "  to  break  that  system  and  to  insist  that  Parlia- 
ment and  public  opinion  should  be  the  governing  forces 
in  foreign  as  in  domestic  policy. 

But  though  thus  determined  not  to  undertake  the 
proffered  ministerial  responsibility,  Cobden  did  not  refuse 
a  public  work  of  a  supremely  important  task  which 
presently  presented  itself,  and  which  formed  a  principal 
episode  in  his  public  career.  It  will  be  convenient  to 
give  a  separate  chapter  to  this  work,  merely  placing  here 
on  record  the  letters  to  Mr.  Richard  which  fall  within 
1858   and  the  earlier  part  of  1859. 

"January  8,  1858. 

"  I  wrote  to  Sturge  yesterday,  suggesting  that  O'Neil 
should  bring  the  case  of  Oude  before  a  public  meeting 
and  try  to  obtain  a  vote  in  favour  of  a  restitution  of  that 
piece  of  stolen  property.  I  am  quite  sure  I  could  carry 
the  majority  of  a  body  of  working  men  in  favour  of 
justice  to  the  people  of  Oude.  I  am  by  no  means  sure 
that  I  should  be  equally  successful  with  a  middle-class 
audience,  or  with  an  assembly  of  so-called  Evangelical 
Christians.  I  want  to  ask  the  latter,  point-blank,  who 
told  them  that  God  gave  us  India  in  trust  for  religious 
purposes  ?  The  presumption  of  that  class  is  astounding. 
If  I  had  all  the  Blue  Books  and  pamphlets  relating  to 
Oude,  I  would  put  the  case  in  a  clear  shape  and  rub  John 
Bull's  nose  in  it.  The  newspapers  would  of  course  call 
me  a  Sepoy. 

"  By  the  way,  is  it  so  clear  that  we  are  going  to  recover 
our  former  position  in  India  ?  The  hot  weather  will  be 
again  on  us  in  a  month  or  two  and  our  young  unseasoned 

235 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

troops  will  die  like  flies  in  a  frost.  Our  armies  may 
occupy  central  places,  and  flying  columns  may  sweep  all 
before  them,  but  all  beyond  the  British  cantonments  will 
be  in  open  or  secret  revolt,  and  how  is  the  country  to  be 
reorganized  without  the  aid  of  the  native  army  ?  All  the 
hard  work  has  been  done  by  the  Sepoys  :  midday  and 
midnight  sentry  duty,  the  escorting  of  treasure,  the 
police  service — all,  in  fact,  requiring  hard  labour  and 
exposure  as  distinguished  from  actual  fighting  with  the 
enemy  has  been  put  upon  the  natives.  I  doubt  the 
possibility  of  Englishmen  performing  their  duties,  and 
therefore  I  can't  see  how  we  are  to  reorganize  the 
country.  By  and  by  we  shall  see  the  impolicy  of  the 
indiscriminate  vengeance  which  we  have  shown  to 
the  native  troops.  We  have  made  every  Sepoy  a  des- 
perado and  furnished  him  with  the  strongest  possible 
motive  to  become  a  hero — for  the  only  chance  of  escap- 
ing the  pollution  of  the  halter  is  by  selling  his  life  dearly 
in  the  field.  In  the  end,  when  too  late,  the  policy  of 
pardon  and  conciliation  will  be  tried.  The  arrogance 
of  this  people  may  yet  be  subjected  to  a  rebuke  at  the 
hands  of  these  despised  Asiatics." 

"  January  14.,  1858. 

"  An  admirable  article  in  the  Star  from,  I  believe,  your 
pen,  on  the  Evangelical  movement  for  converting  the 
Hindoos,  gave  me  infinite  pleasure.  This  mustering  of 
the  black  coats  to  step  into  the  breach  opened  by  the  red 
coats  is  to  me  ten  thousand  times  worse  than  old  Charley 
Napier  '  sharpening  his  sword  '  or  Kars  Williams  depre- 
cating the  neglect  of  the  art  of  war.  It  is  a  wonder 
these  people  who  read  the  New  Testament  backward 
are  not  afraid  of  bringing  the  devil  himself  into  their 
midst  and  thus  realizing  the  old  popular  superstition. 
Their    doings    are    enough    to    make    atheists  of   us  all, 

236 


An   Interlude  of  Peace 

i.e.  if  we  are  to  take  them  as  the  accredited  exponents 
of  Christianity. 

"  I  want  you  to  give  another  short  article  about  China. 
Did  you  see  the  letter  from  The  Times  correspondent  at 
Hong-Kong  in  yesterday's  paper  ?  It  is  desperately 
immoral.  Sneering  at  Christian  morality  !  Can  we  play 
the  game  of  fraud,  violence  and  injustice  in  Asia  without 
finding  our  national  conscience  seared  at  home  ?  May 
we  or  our  children  not  see  the  bloody  appetite  which  we 
are  encouraging  in  Hindostan  and  China  satiating  itself 
on  each  other?  In  fact,  is  not  our  national  character 
already  changed  ?  Observe  with  what  callous  indiffer- 
ence we  read  the  Gazette  returns  of  the  killed  and 
wounded  in  India,  and  compare  it  with  what  we  felt  when 
the  first  bulletins  of  our  losses  in  the  Crimea  appeared. 
Like  the  Romans  at  the  Amphitheatre,  or  the  French 
populace  in  the  first  Revolution,  we  acquire  a  habit  or 
enjoying  scenes  of  carnage,  the  only  difference  being 
that  we  look  at  them  through  the  columns  of  the  news- 
paper. And  hence  '  our  own  correspondent '  is  sent  to 
the  seat  of  war  to  deck  out  in  pictorial  phrase,  for  the 
amusement  of  the  reader,  the  scenes  .of  slaughter  and 
wounds  and  agony  which  we  peruse  with  precisely  the 
same  zest  as  if  we  were  witnessing  a  mimic  battlefield 
at  Astley's.  Observe  the  eager  levity  with  which  The 
'Times  correspondent  at  Hong-Kong  is  urging  on  the 
fray,  calling  for  the  'opening  of  the  ball,'  and  threatening 
Lord  Elgin  with  a  recall  if  he  does  not  execute  his  behests. 
In  due  time  we  shall  hear  of  our  forces  having  at  a  safe 
distance  with  their  superior  artillery  bombarded  and  burnt 
the  crowded  city  or  terrified  the  population  into  submis- 
sion. And  all  this  in  support  of  a  quarrel  into  which  our 
vain  and  foolish  representative  plunged  us  without  a 
tittle  of  right  or  reason.  And  whose  war  is  this?  Not 
the  war  of  the  House  of  Commons,  for  a  majority  of  that 

237 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

body  stigmatized  it  as  an  unwarrantable  aggression  on 
our  part,  and  every  man  of  high  intellect  or  commanding 
position  who  was  unconnected  with  the  Government  gave 
solemn  judgment  against  our  own  functionary,  and  the 
greatest  legal  authorities  proclaimed  that  law  and  justice 
were  on  the  side  of  our  opponent.  Yet  in  spite  of  all 
this  it  is  now  assumed  by  the  Government  that  the 
middle  class  of  England  have  by  the  last  election 
endorsed  the  wicked  acts  perpetrated  in  our  name  in 
China,  and  now  the  representative  of  the  newspaper 
which  was  the  foremost  abetter  of  the  Government  laughs 
at  the  idea  of  applying  the  maxims  of  Christian  morality 
to  the  Chinese.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  became  viti- 
ated in  character  by  their  contact  with  Asiatics — are  we 
to  suffer  the  same  fate  ?  The  bishops  are  inviting  us  to 
more  strenuous  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen 
— are  we  not  in  need  of  all  their  care  to  prevent  our 
being  ourselves  converted  to  heathenism  ?  Have  not  our 
acts  in  that  largest  and  most  populous  quarter  of  the 
globe  been  characterized  in  a  majority  of  cases  by  a 
pagan  disregard  of  the  precepts  of  Christianity  ?  ' 

"August  1 8,  1858. 
"  Nobody  has  a  greater  horror,  scorn  and  detestation 
than  I  have  for  the  doctrine  of  an  irresistible  law  or 
destiny  impelling  to  brute  violence  and  injustice.  That 
may  be  the  law  for  wild  beasts,  but  it  is  because  we  are 
something  better  than  wild  beasts  that  it  ought  not  to  be 
our  law.  What  I  meant  was  this :  that  when  a  Government 
plants  its  power  and  authority  among  an  inferior  race  (I 
don't  like  the  word,  but  there  are  inferior  climates  for 
the  development  of  man),  the  very  superiority,  whether 
intellectual,  moral  or  physical,  leads  to  an  extension  of  its 
power  and  influence  over  surrounding  barbarism.  This 
may  be  a  desirable  state  of  things  if  the  ascendancy  be 

238 


An   Interlude  of  Peace 

a  moral  one,  providing  the  governing  intruders  be  capable  of 
taking  root  with  the  indigenous  population  and  amalgamating 
with  them.  Thus  it  was  a  good  thing  for  Penn  to  set 
up  his  moral-force  sway  over  the  North  American 
Indians,  because  he  and  his  colonists  could  live  and 
multiply  their  species  in  the  same  latitudes  as  the  red 
men,  and  there  was  no  reason  why  they  should  not  be 
fused  into  one  community.  But  my  doctrine  is  that  it 
would  not  have  been  desirable  for  Penn  to  have  colon- 
ized Borneo,  and  set  up  a  form  of  government  for  white 
men  who  could  not  perpetuate  their  species  there  or 
follow  the  pursuit  of  agriculture.  If  he  had  gone  there, 
and  all  the  neighbouring  tribes  had  come  to  volunteer  to 
submit  to  his  rule,  or  at  least — which  I  maintain  would 
have  been  the  case — his  moral  power  should  have 
extended  its  influence  to  neighbouring  tribes  and  they 
had  in  some  degree  acknowledged  his  authority — still  it 
could  not  be  a  Pennsylvania,  inasmuch  as  no  white  child 
can  be  reared  on  the  Equator.  The  white  race  could 
only  hold  power  by  a  constant  succession  of  adult  visitors 
which  is  the  most  unnatural  and  worst  of  all  governing 
powers,  and  the  more  widely  it  is  set  up  the  greater  will 
be  its  fall,  to  the  confusion  and  injury  of  the  governor 
and  governed.  If  you  want  to  benefit  the  races  who 
properly  belong  to  such  regions  as  Borneo,  India,  or 
Africa,  send  your  missionaries,  both  religious  and  secu- 
lar, teach  them  what  you  know,  and  try  to  inspire  them 
with  the  ideas  of  a  better  social  and  political  status,  and 
the  desire  for  a  better  government.  But  don't  attempt 
to  govern  them  or  to  exert  your  influence  through  the 
Government.      Do,   in   fact,  as  St.   Paul   did  !  ' 

'■'August  21,  1858. 
"  I  doubt  the  policy  of  Mr.  Wise  interfering  person- 
ally.    It  gives  the  occasion  for  such  friends  of   Brooke 

239 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

as  old  Drummond  to  raise  the  cry  of  persecution. 
Everybody  knows  that  Wise  and  Brooke  have  had  a 
deadly  personal  quarrel.  His  facts  and  arguments  had 
better  be  used  through  others.  Why,  for  instance,  should 
not  he  send  a  letter  to  the  Star  with  an  assumed  signature 
exposing  the  blunders  in  the  article  from  the  Leeds 
Mercury  ?  I  send  you  quite  a  tit-bit  from  one  of 
Molesworth's  speeches.  Put  it  in  the  Star  as  a  paragraph. 
This  China  news  will  be  made  the  test  for  hallelujahs 
over  our  criminal  policy  in  the  East.  The  striking 
success  of  our  arms  flatters  the  self-love  and  gratifies  the 
combativeness  of  our  people,  whilst  the  cupidity  of  our 
merchants  is  excited  by  the  prospect  of  fresh  '  openings  ' 
for  our  trade.  Our  case  can  only  be  proved  by  a  long 
course  of  experience  which  will  show  that  trade  does  not 
gain,  whilst  our  tax-payers  lose,  by  this  process  of  forcing 
markets  open  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet." 

"November  28,  1859. 
"  There  is  a  leader  in  to-day's  Daily  News  about 
Borneo,  the  writer  of  which  is  evidently  well  informed 
upon  the  subject,  and  I  have  no  doubt  others  will  follow. 
The  case  for  the  Peace  Party  and  the  Aborigines  Pro- 
tection Society  is  strong  enough  upon  the  simple  ground 
that  here  you  have  a  slaughter  unparalleled  in  its  character 
since  the  massacre  of  the  feeble  Mexicans  by  the  Spaniards 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  committed  upon  a  race  of  bar- 
barians upon  no  other  pretence  than  that  they  were  living 
in  a  state  of  uncivilized  warfare  with  neighbouring  bar- 
barous tribes.  No  attack  was  made  or  contemplated 
upon  Englishmen  or  Europeans — no  attack  was  possible  ; 
for  mark  the  features  of  the  case  :  The  Times  says  one 
thousand  five  hundred  or  two  thousand  were  blown 
to  atoms,  and  we  do  not  find  that  there  was  as  much 
opposition   to  the  British  force  as  to  cause  the  loss  of  a 

240 


An   Interlude  of  Peace 

single  life  to  an  Englishman.  This  fact  constitutes  it 
the  most  wanton,  cruel  and  cowardly  butchery  of  modern 
times.  I  believe  that  fewer  lives  were  sacrificed  at  the 
Battle  of  Trafalgar.  I  have  thought  in  vain  upon  the 
subject,  to  bring  to  mind  any  parallel  atrocity  perpetuated 
upon  sea  or  land  by  a  so-called  civilized  nation  upon  an 
uncivilized  people  in  our  day." 


241 


CHAPTER   X 
THE    FRENCH    TREATY 

Cobden's  mission  to  France  in  1859-60  for  the  nego- 
tiation of  a  commercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain  was 
not  in  its  first  intent  a  business  mission.  It  was  a  peace 
mission.  The  alliance  for  the  Russian  War,  like  most 
war-alliances,  was  an  ill  guarantee  of  lasting  amity.  The 
atmosphere  of  mistrust,  which  the  Russian  enterprise 
interrupted,  again  closed  round  the  Governments  and 
nations  soon  after  peace  was  restored.  The  outbreak 
in  April  of  the  Franco-Austrian  War,  arranged  in  the 
summer  of  1858  between  Napoleon  and  Cavour  and 
concluded  by  the  Treaty  of  Villafranca,  in  July  1859, 
in  which  Savoy  and  Nice  were  handed  over  to  France, 
aroused  great  indignation  in  this  country.  Though 
Palmerston  was  regarded  both  here  and  in  France  as 
friendly  to  Napoleon,  the  continental  disturbances  were 
used  by  the  Government  as  grounds  for  increased  ex- 
penditure on  armaments,  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
Channel  suspicions  and  antagonisms  began  once  more 
to  be  inflamed. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  Mr.  Bright,  speaking  in 
Parliament,  asked  why  the  Government  did  not  approach 
the  French  Emperor  with  a  view  to  establishing  free 
commercial  relations  between  the  two  nations  as  a  pacific 
and  a  mutually  profitable  policy.  The  distinguished 
French  statesman  and  publicist,  M.  Michel  Chevalier, 
struck  by  the  opportuneness  of  this  suggestion,  wrote  to 

242 


The   French  Treaty 

Cobden  urging  the  experiment,  and  shortly  afterwards, 
on  a  visit  to  this  country,  pressed  him  personally  to 
undertake  the  conversion  of  the  Emperor  to  a  Free  Trade 
treaty,  so  far  as  that  policy  was  immediately  practicable. 

The  only  member  of  the  new  Ministry  likely  to  be 
in  full  sympathy  with  such  a  large  proposal  was  Mr. 
Gladstone,  now  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Cobden 
visited  him  at  Hawarden  early  in  September  and  discussed 
both  the  political  and  the  fiscal  feasibility*  of  a  treaty 
for  the  mutual  reduction  of  duties  upon  articles  of  com- 
mercial exchange  between  the  two  countries.  Though 
both  were  alive  to  the  dangers  to  which  treaties  of 
commerce  are  always  exposed,  as  compromising  the  sound 
general  principle  which  bade  each  nation  adjust  its  own 
fiscal  policy  to  its  own  interests,  unhampered  by  express 
arrangements  with  other  countries,  both  were  equally 
convinced  that,  as  Lord  Morley  puts  it,  "  An  economic 
principle  by  itself  can  never  be  decisive  of  anything  in 
the  mixed  and  complex  sphere  of  practice,"  and  that 
diplomacy  may  be  called  in  to  assist  the  actual  process 
of  applying  such  an   economic  principle. 

Cobden's  first  proposal,  that  he  should  utilize  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  a  visit  to  Paris  which  he  had 
previously  arranged,  to  make  a  private  inquiry  into  the 
matter,  was  changed  into  something  more  definite.  If 
anything  was  to  be  accomplished,  it  was  felt  that  some 
position  of  at  least  informal  authority  must  attach  to  such 
a  mission.  He  therefore  consulted  Lord  Palmerston 
and  Lord  John  Russell,  the  Foreign  Minister.  He  did 
not  find  them  strongly  sympathetic,  for  their  sense  of  the 
political  proprieties  had  been  gravely  upset  by  the  alleged 
intention  of  France  to  take  a  bit  of  territory  from 
Morocco.  But  still  he  was  accorded  a  permission  and 
the  friendly  services  of  the  Paris  Embassy. 

The  situation   was  felt  at  first  to  be  one  of  extreme 

243 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

delicacy,  as  indeed  it  was.  It  could  hardly  be  expected 
that  Lord  Cowley,  our  ambassador  at  Paris,  would  view 
with  entire  favour  an  irregular  envoy  thrusting  himself 
into  important  relations  with  French  Ministers  and 
professing  to  carry  some  great  unmeasured  authority. 
On  the  other  hand,  Cobden  was  equally  insistent  that  he 
was  not  to  be  regarded  merely  as  a  pushful  commercial 
traveller  seeking  the  expansion  of  French  markets  for 
British  wares. 

The  following  letter  to  M.  Chevalier,  written  just  after 
his  return  from  visiting  Mr.  Gladstone,  indicates  his 
feelings  : — 

"  September  14,  1859. 

"  It  would,  or  course,  be  agreeable  to  me  to  see  your 
Ministers  of  State.  But  I  attach  very  little  value  to  such 
interviews  :  for  there  is  always  a  latent  suspicion  that  I, 
as  an  Englishman,  in  recommending  other  Governments 
to  adopt  Free  Trade  principles,  am  merely  pursuing  a 
selfish  British  policy.  Thus  my  advice  is  deprived  of  all 
weight,  and  even  my  facts  are  doubted."'  But,  on  totally 
different  grounds,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  a  removal  of 
the  impediments  which  our  foolish  legislation  interposes 
to  the  intercourse  between  the  two  countries.  I  see  no 
other  hope  but  in  such  a  policy  for  any  permanent 
improvements  in  the  -political  relations  of  France  and 
England.  I  utterly  despair  of  finding  peace  and  harmony 
in  the  efforts  of  Governments  and  diplomatists.  The 
people  of  the  two  nations  must  be  brought  into  mutual 
dependence  by  the  supply  of  each  other's  wants.  There 
is  no  other  way  of  counteracting  the  antagonism  of  lan- 
guage and  race.  It  is  God's  own  method  of  producing 
an  entente  cor  dialed  and  no  other  plan  is  worth  a  farthing. 

1  "  C'est  la  methode  dc  Dieu  lui-memc  pour  produire  une  entente 
cordiale,  ct  tout  autre  systeme  ne  vaut  pas  un  Hard."  This  is  perhaps 
the  first  recorded  use  of  the  expression  entente  cordiale  as  applied  to  the 
desirable  relations  between  the  two  nations. 

244 


The   French   Treaty 

It  is  with  this  view  that  I  hope  to  see  our  Government 
greatly  reduce  the  duties  on  wines  and  other  French 
products,  and  it  is  only  with  this  view  that  I  feel  any 
interest  about  your  following  our  example.  If  I  thought 
I  could  promote  a  similar  spirit  in  the  minds  of  any  of 
your  statesmen,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  have  an  inter- 
view with  them.  But  to  have  any  chance  of  success  it 
is  necessary  that  they  should  previously  understand  that 
I  am  not  a  commis  voyageur  travelling  abroad  for  the  sale 
of  British  fabrics. 

"  I  don't  like  the  tendency  of  affairs  on  the  Continent. 
Every  year  witnesses  a  greater  number  of  armed  men, 
and  a  more  active  preparation  in  the  improved  means  of 
human  destruction.  Depend  on  it,  this  is  not  in  harmony 
with   the   spirit  of  the  age." 

On  October  1 8th  Cobden  arrived  at  Paris,  and,  after 
an  interview  with  Lord  Cowley,  was  brought  bv  M. 
Chevalier  into  close  intercourse  with  M.  Rouher,  the 
Minister  of  Commerce,  a  man  fortunately  of  strong  Free 
Trade  professions.  It  was  soon  made  clear  that  all 
depended  upon  convincing  the  Emperor,  and  a  long 
interview  was  arranged,  at  which  M.  Rouher  presented 
Cobden.  There  are  several  accounts  given  by  Cobden 
of  this  interview,  in  a  formal  letter  to  Lord  Palmerston, 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Bright,  and  a  very  full  account  in  the 
private  journal,  from  which  long  extracts  are  given  in 
Lord   Morley's  "Life." 

The  first  hour  of  the  conversation  turned  entirely  upon 
the  sore  subject  of  the  suspicion  and  dislike  which  the 
Emperor  found  in  the  English  Press  and  Parliament 
everywhere  and  always  directed  against  him,  though  his 
own  acts  had  been  continually  dictated  by  a  desire  to  be 
on  good   terms  with   England. 

Writing  on   December   26,  1857,  to  his  French   Free- 

245 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Trade  friend,  M.  Aries  Dufour,  Cobden  uses  the  same 
language  :  "  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  talking  a  little 
to  the  Emperor  on  the  great  question  of  Commercial 
Reform,  and  have  tried  to  persuade  him  that  ours  is  the 
only  reliable  entente  cordiale  between  two  great  nations. 
Free  Trade  is  God's  diplomacy,  and  there  is  no  other 
certain  way  of  uniting  people  in  the  bonds  of  peace. 

11 1  then  turned  to  the  question  which  1  wished  to 
talk  upon,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  bringing  the 
two  countries  into  greater  commercial  dependence  on 
each  other.  We  talked  for  a  full  hour  on  the  subject. 
My  only  fear  is  lest  I  talked  too  much,  and  may  have 
sometimes  forgotten  that  I  was  not  speaking  to  the 
same  gentleman  with  whom  I  had  breakfasted  at 
Mr.  Milnes'  three  days  after  his  escape  from  the 
chateau  of  Ham.  But  he  is  an  excellent  listener,  and 
from  every  remark  which  fell  from  him  he  seemed 
to  be  favourable  to  Free  Trade.  (I  have  heard  this 
even  from  his  enemies.)  But  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  is  very  ill-informed  on  the  subject,  and  that, 
as  a  consequence,  he  has  a  great  fear  of  the  Protectionists, 
whose  numbers,  power  and  influence  he  greatly  exagger- 
ates. Of  course,  I  did  all  I  could  to  take  this  party 
down  in  his  estimation.  He  told  me  that  a  large 
majority  of  the  Legislative  Body  and  the  Senate  were 
determined  protectionists,  and  that  the  only  way  in 
which  he  could  effect  a  change  would  be  through 
a  treaty  with  a  foreign  Power,  the  provisions  of  which 
would  then  become  law  by  his  simple  '  decree,'  and 
he  asked  me  whether  England  would  enter  into  a 
commercial  treaty.  I  explained  that  we  could  give  no 
exclusive  advantages,  but  that  1  was  sure  your  Govern- 
ment would  be  glad  to  make  some  simultaneous  changes 
in  our  tariff  and  embody  them  in  a  treaty,  it  that 
would    facilitate  his  action    in   the  same  direction  ;    and 

246 


The  French   Treaty 

I  explained  how  it  might  be  possible  next  year  for 
Mr.  Gladstone  to  co-operate  with  him  in  this  re- 
ciprocal reduction  of  duties.  I  told  him  I  thought  we 
could  abolish  all  the  duties  on  the  articles  de  Taris, 
and  enable  him  to  say  to  the  Parisians  that  every- 
thing they  made  would  go  as  fully  into  London  as 
into  Rome.  He  seemed  pleased  at  this  idea.  He 
remarked  that  he  was  under  a  promise  to  the  manu- 
facturers not  to  abolish  the  prohibitive  svstem  before 
1 86 1.  I  told  him  that  if  the  treaty  was  entered  into 
next  year  it  was  not  necessary  that  it  should  wholly 
take  effect  in  one  or  even  two  years  ;  that,  if  spread 
over  three  years,  it  might  be  as  well  for  all  parties. 
All  that  I  wanted  was  the  moral  effect  of  the  fact 
that  the  new  commercial  policy  was  adopted.  I  took 
this  opportunity  of  explaining,  in  very  emphatic  terms, 
that  England  did  not  want  customers ;  that  we  had 
already  more  markets  than  we  could  supply  ;  that  in 
a  large  number  of  our  mills  and  manufactories  the 
machinery  was  standing  partially  idle  owing  to  the 
want  of  hands,  whilst  there  were  large  orders  in  hand 
beyond  what  could  be  executed.  He  asked  me  how 
I  should  go  to  work  if  I  were  in  his  place.  I  told 
him  that  I  should  act  precisely  as  I  did  in  England, 
by  dealing  first  with  one  article,  which  was  the  key- 
stone to  the  system — in  England  that  article  was  corn, 
in  France  it  is  iron  ;  that  I  should  abolish  totally,  and 
at  once,  the  duty  on  pig-iron,  and  leave  only  a  very 
small  revenue  duty,  if  any,  on  bars,  plates,  etc.,  and 
that  I  would  buy  off  the  opposition  of  the  iron-masters 
by  appointing  a  commission  to  afford  them  an  indemnity 
out  of  a  loan  to  be  raised  for  the  purpose.  This 
would  render  it  much  easier  to  deal  with  all  the  other 
industries,  whose  general  complaint  is  that  they  cannot 
compete    with     England     owing    to    the    high     price    of 

247 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

iron  and  coal.  (I  am  told  there  is  not  much  difficulty 
in  making  coal  free.)  He  made  me  repeat  to  him 
these  last  remarks.  He  asked  me  to  furnish  him  with 
a  list  of  the  articles  imported  into  England  from 
France  upon  which  I  thought  we  could  reduce  the 
duties.  I  promised  to  give  him  a  general  idea,  which 
I  have  since  done  through  M.  Rouher.  He  asked 
whether  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  had  thrown  any 
land  out  of  cultivation,  and  when  I  told  him  it  had 
had  the  very  opposite  effect — that  in  nothing  had 
Free  Trade  been  so  completely  triumphant  as  in  the 
improvement  it  had  effected  in  agriculture — and  when 
I  described  the  great  veneration  in  which  Sir  Robert 
Peel's  memory  is  held  by  the  people,  he  remarked, 
1  I  am  charmed  and  flattered  at  the  idea  of  doing  the 
same  work  for  France,  but  the  difficulties  are  very 
great.  We  do  not  make  reforms  in  France  ;  we  only 
make  revolutions.'  He  alluded  to  the  way  in  which 
he  had  been  thwarted  by  the  protectionists  in  some 
small  measures  of  reform,  such  as  the  admission  of 
iron  for  shipbuilding  and  the  removing  of  the  sliding 
scale.  I  was  struck  with  his  repeated  allusions  to  the 
opposition  he  had  to  encounter  and  his  evident  fear 
of  a  mere  handful  of  monopolists.  I  tried  every 
argument  to  convince  him  that,  instead  of  injuring 
the  protected  interests,  he  would  render  a  greater  service 
to  them  than  any  other  class  by  subjecting  them  to 
a  little  wholesome  competition.  But  he  seems,  like 
almost  every  Frenchman  I  know  (excepting  my  friend 
M.  Chevalier),  to  be  very  deficient  in  moral  courage. 
The  result  of  my  interview  was  a  conviction  that,  if 
left  to  himself,  the  Emperor  would  at  once  enter  upon 
a  Free  Trade  policy,  but  I  am  by  no  means  certain 
that  he  will  do  so,  and  encounter  the  dangers  which 
he   imagines  are  in   his  way." 

248 


The  French  Treaty 

The  urgency  of  the  situation,  if  a  fresh  anti-French 
panic  was  to  be  averted,  is  well  indicated  in  the 
following  letter  to   M.   Chevalier  : — 

"  Paris,  October  13. 
"My  interview  with  the  Emperor  was  so  far 
very  satisfactory  that  he  put  pertinent  questions  and 
listened  to  me  patiently.  But,  of  course,  he  did  not 
lead  me  to  expect  what  his  policy  would  be.  I  had 
no  right  to  expect  so  much.  I  must  return  to 
London  in  a  week  to  meet  an  American  gentleman 
on  private  business,  and  shall  not  be  back  in  Paris 
again  for  some  days.  I  wish  you  could  leave  your 
vines  and  sheep  at  Lodene  and  come  and  see  me 
before  I  go.  What  shall  I  say  to  Mr.  Gladstone  ? 
I  am  not  sure  that  the  Ministers  of  the  Emperor 
appreciate  so  fully  as  I  could  wish  the  importance  of 
doing  something  to  convince  the  world  that  he  is 
going  to  do  the  work  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  rather 
than  that  of  the  first  Napoleon.  M.  Persigny  feels 
this  because,  being  on  the  spot,  he  knows  what  the 
state  of  opinion  is  ,  in  England.  The  alarmists  and 
the  incendiaries  have  got  complete  possession  of  the 
public  ear.  The  feeling  in  England  is  now  worse  than 
ever.  Not  a  voice  is  raised  on  the  side  of  moderation. 
I  met,  at  Messrs.  Rothschild's  counting-house,  Meyer 
Rothschild,  the  M.P.,  from  England,  and  asked  him 
what  news  he  brought  from  the  other  side,  and  his 
answer  was,  '  There  is  one  universal  feeling  of 
mistrust  of  Louis  Napoleon.'  It  is  useless  to  go  into 
the  cause  of  this,  or  to  try  to  show  its  injustice.  He 
has  enemies,  of  course,  interested  in  spreading  a  hatred 
and  mistrust  of  him,  and  there  are  parties  in  England 
who,  for  their  own  ends,  foster  this  feeling  of  panic. 
The   part  for  a  wise  man   like  the  Emperor  to  perform 

249 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

is  to  do  a  striking  act,  which  shall  at  once  put  his 
enemies  in  the  wrong,  and  give  those  who,  like  myself, 
have  taken  the  unpopular  side  in  England  an 
argument  by  which  we  can  turn  the  tables  on  the 
panic-mongers.  Nothing  but  a  decided  measure  of 
Commercial  Reform  will  suffice  for  this  purpose." 

A  long  and  troublesome  series  of  discussions  was 
required,  first,  to  drive  an  intelligent  apprehension 
of  the  proposals  into  the  head  of  M.  Fould,  the 
French  Premier,  who,  though  not  averse  to  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  existing  prohibitive  tariff,  still  clung  to  high 
duties  as  necessary  to  appease  the  manufacturing  interests. 

It  was  very  difficult  even  to  keep  M.  Fould  up 
to  this  timid  committal,  or  to  get  him  to  face 
definitely  the  proposal  of  a  Commercial  Treaty. 
"  He  saw  great  difficulties  in  the  way.  How,  when, 
and  where  could  a  negotiation  be  carried  on,  and 
with  whom  ?  He  was  afraid  that,  if  a  meeting  between 
himself,  the  Minister  of  Commerce,  M.  Rouher,  and 
myself  were  to  take  place,  it  could  not  be  kept  a 
secret  ;  that  at  present  they  had  concealed  even  from 
M.  Walenski,  the  Foreign  Minister,  the  fact  of  any 
conversation  having  taken  place  between  the  Emperor 
and  themselves  and  me."  "  The  droll  part  of  these 
interviews,  besides  the  timidity  of  the  people,  is  that 
here  is  a  Government  having  so  little  faith  or  con- 
fidence in  one  another,  that  some  of  its  members 
tie  me  down,  a  perfect  stranger,  to  secrecy  as  against 
their  most  elevated   colleagues."  ' 

On  a  short  visit  to  London  he  saw  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  was  whole-heartedly  with  him  in  the  matter,  and 
Lord  Palmerston,  whose  mind  was  again  obsessed  by 
stories  of  French  aggressive  intentions. 

It  is,  indeed,  doubtful  whether  his  laborious  pleadings 

1   "Life,"  ii.  253. 
250 


The   French  Treaty 

in  Paris  with  French  Ministers  would  have  reached 
success  had  not  the  French  Minister  in  London,  M.  de 
Persigny,  taken  up  the  matter  with  real  zeal  and 
understanding.  For  even  after  M.  Rouher  had  pre- 
pared his  plan  of  a  Commercial  Treaty,  the  mind 
of  the  Emperor  still  remained  undecided.  At  last 
M.  de  Persigny  seems  to  have  turned  the  balance 
by  playing  upon  the  fears  of  Napoleon,  and  represent- 
ing war  as  possible  unless  some  measures  were  taken 
to  avert    the    profound    distrust  of   the    English  public. 

But,  even  when  the  Emperor's  assent  was  won, 
the  battle  had  to  be  fought  in  detail  over  the  con- 
crete proposals  in  the  treaty.  Here,  again,  it  was  a 
question  of  courage  rather  than  of  economic  or 
political  principle.  The  central  contention  turned 
upon  the  height  of  the  proposed  tariff,  or,  putting 
the  same  matter  in  another  way,  the  extent  of  the 
French  concession   to  possible  English  competition. 

"  Referring  to  the  details  in  his  intended  tariff",  he 
said  the  duties  would  range  from  10  to  30  per  cent. 
I  pointed  out  the  excessive  rate  of  the  latter  figure, 
that  the  maximum  ought  not  to  exceed  20  per  cent.  ; 
that  it  would  defeat  his  object  in  every  way  if  he 
went  as  high  as  30  per  cent.  ;  that  it  would  fail  as 
an  economical  measure,  whilst  in  a  political  point 
of  view  it  would  be  unsuccessful,  inasmuch  as  the 
people  of  England  would  regard  it  as  prohibition  in 
another  form."1 

Long  after  the  Emperor  was  supposed  to  be  con- 
verted and  had  given  formal  assent,  his  mind  was 
liable  to  relapse  before  the  protectionist  attacks,  now 
reinforced  by  M.  Magne,  the  new  Finance  Minister 
who  had  replaced  M.  Rouher.  Cobden  had  to  wrestle 
anew     with     the     influence     of     this     man      upon      the 

1   "Life,"  ii.  258. 
251 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

Emperor's  mind,  and  he  laboured  under  the  dis- 
advantage that  all  the  earlier  negotiations  were  un- 
official. For  not  until  the  last  days  of  the  year 
was  Lord  John  Russell  induced  to  give  Cobden  the 
official  position  demanded  for  any  effective  action. 
Even  then  the  project  was  far  from  safe.  For  the 
French  protectionists  and  their  ministerial  friends  had 
many  devices  for  shelving  it.  One  was  to  tack  on 
to  it  as  an  integral  part  a  political  treaty  of  alliance. 
Another  was  the  Emperor's  demand  for  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Commercial  Treaty  to  the  Legislature, 
though  he  himself  had  informed  Cobden  of  the 
irreconcilable  objections  of  that  body.  Then  came 
the  demand  for  an  "  Inquiry  "  into  the  desirability  of 
abolishing  the  prohibitive  system,  an  inquiry  actually 
held.  At  last  the  Emperor  made  an  open  committal 
of  his  intention  to  ratify  the  treaty  in  a  letter  to  the 
Moniteur.  This  letter  aroused  intense  anger  among 
the  ironmasters,  cotton-spinners  and  other  protec- 
tionists, and  the  danger  was  continuous,  until  the 
actual  signature  of  the  treaty  on  January   29,   i860. 

The  following  passage  from  a  letter  written  to  his 
friend  M.  Aries  Dufour  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
most  precarious  stage  of  this  great  affair. 

"Paris,  January  27,  i860. 
. "  I  had  fully  expected  to  leave  Paris  without  fail 
to-morrow  for  Lyons,  but  a  telegraphic  despatch  from 
London  has  again  detained  me.  There  are  some  little 
verbal  alterations  to  be  made  in  the  treaty  which  has 
been  returned.  And  we  are  to  meet  Messrs.  Baroche 
and   Rouher  this  afternoon   to  agree  to  them. 

"  There  is  nothing  which  will  affect  the  conclusion 
of  the  affaire,  which  will  be  effected,  and  the  ratifica- 
tions exchanged,   before  next   Friday.       The  prohibition- 

252 


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The   French   Treaty 

ists  have  made  a  Great  mistake  in  resorting;  to  such 
violent  language.  They  only  prove  their  own  impotence, 
for,  as  they  cannot  follow  up  their  big  words  with 
big  deeds,  they  only  make  themselves  ridiculous. 
Nobody  will  pity  them.  They  are  gone  back  to  their 
mills  and  factories,  and  as  everything  goes  on  much 
as  before,  they  will  learn  for  the  first  time  that  they 
are  not  all  France  and  that  the  world  can  go  on 
pleasantly  even  when  they  are  not  satisfied.  They  have 
been  spoilt  children  so  long,  with  every  caprice  grati- 
fied, at  the  expense  of  other  people,  and  even  sometimes 
of  themselves,  that  I  dare  say  it  is  very  difficult  for 
them  to  bear  this  contradiction,  but  it  will  do  them 
good   notwithstanding." 

But  the  signature  of  the  treaty  by  the  Emperor  was 
very  far  from  a  completion  of  the  transaction.  For  in 
the  first  place  it  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  criticism 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  strong  suspicions 
were  aroused  against  any  treaty  of  French  origin  on 
the  part  of  the  Francophobe  faction  whose  passions 
were  being  freshly  fed  by  the  intrigues  of  Napoleon  in 
the  affairs  of  Italy  and  the  Zurich  treaty  between 
France  and   Austria  for  the  rearrangement  of  Italy. 

Cobden  himself  took  a  private  hand  in  an  attempted 
adjustment  of  the  situation  by  means  of  a  long  conver- 
sation (January  30th)  with  Prince  Metternich,  the 
Austrian  Ambassador  at  Paris.  The  sympathies  of 
Lord  Palmerston  and  Lord  John  Russell  were  strongly 
with  Italy,  and,  as  the  months  of  i860  passed  by,  a 
powerful  backing  of  public  resentment  gathered  against 
the  Franco-Austrian  intrigues  which  went  to  endanger 
Cobden's  treaty.  Nor  was  that  the  only  danger. 
Among  free-traders  there  was  a  vociferous  section  that 
objected  on  grounds  of  principle  to  commercial  treaties 

253 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

as  a  violation  of  the  pure  gospel  of  economic  freedom. 
The  measure  had  to  steer  its  course  between  these 
opposed  tides  of  criticism.  Fortunately  this  task  was 
committed  to  the  able  hands  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  who, 
in  his  exposition  of  the  treaty  (February  ioth),  paid 
the  following  well-merited  tribute  to  its  creator  : — 

"  Rare  is  the  privilege  of  any  man  who,  having  four- 
teen  years  ago  rendered  to  his  country  one   signal   and 
splendid  service,  now  again   within  the  same  brief  span 
of  life,   decorated  neither  by   rank  nor  title,  bearing  no 
mark    to    distinguish    him    from    the    people    whom    he 
serves,    has    been    permitted    again    to    perform    a    great 
and  memorable  service  to    his  country."     The    measure 
emerged  triumphantly  from  its  ordeal  in- the  Commons. 
"  Nothing    was    given     to    France    which    was    of    any 
value  to  us.     On  the   other  hand,  nothing  was  received 
from   France  except  a   measure   by    which    that   country 
conferred    a    benefit    upon    itself.      At    a    small    loss    of 
revenue    we   had    gained    a  great  extension   of    trade."  l 
Such    was    the    compact    and    successful    presentation    of 
the  case  by  Gladstone. 

But  there  still  remained  a  vast  amount  of  anxious 
toil  for  Cobden  before  the  treaty  was  got  into  an 
operative  shape.  In  fact,  the  treaty  itself  was  little 
better  than  a  sketch,  the  detailed  provisions  of  which 
had  yet  to  be  filled  in  by  a  Supplementary  Convention 
provided  for  in  one  of  the  Articles  of  the  treaty.  Over 
these  details  a  fierce  battle  had  to  be  fought  in  order 
to  prevent  the  French  protectionists  maintaining  the 
duties  up  to  the  30  per  cent,  standard  which  the  treaty 
made  permissible,  instead  of  reducing  them  towards  the 
10  per  cent,  for  which  Cobden  had  been  arguing. 

Cobden  himself  took  command  of  the  English  Com- 
mission,  confident  in    the  strength   of  the    evidence    he 

1  "  Life,"  ii.  289. 

254 


The   French  Treaty 

could  produce  and  in  the  support  of  M.  Rouher  and 
the  Emperor.  The  work,  which  began  in  April  and 
lasted  until  November,  was  of  a  most  arduous  nature, 
taxing  his  industry,  astuteness  and  temper  to  the 
utmost.  The  main  matter  of  discussion  was  the  com- 
parative costs  of  production  of  the  British  and  French 
products  liable  to  be  brought  into  competition  in  the 
several  trades.  Cobden  and  his  colleagues  had  first 
to  prepare  evidence  and  witnesses  to  prove  in  each 
particular  that  the  French  Commissioners  ought  to  be 
content  with  a  lower  duty  than  that  which  was  de- 
manded by  the  French  manufacturing  interests.  "The 
strain  of  the  conflict  and  its  preparation,  both  in 
Cobden  and  his  colleagues,  was  very  great.  The  dis- 
cussions at  the  Foreign  Office  usually  lasted  from  two 
until  six  o'clock,  when  they  went  to  dine.  Later  in 
the  evening  came  laborious  interviews  with  commercial 
experts  from  England,  who  brought  tables,  returns, 
extracts  from  ledgers.  Commercial  friends  at  home 
were  apt  to  be  impatient,  and  Cobden  was  obliged 
to  write  long  letters  of  encouragement  and  exhortation. 
In  the  morning,  after  two  or  three  hours  devoted  to 
correspondence  and  preparation  for  these  interviews, 
soon  after  eleven  Cobden  proceeded  to  the  offices  of 
the  English  Commissioners  in  the  Rue  de  l'Universite, 
where  his  colleagues  had  already  arranged  the  matter 
acquired  in  the  previous  evening.  This  they  examined 
and  discussed  and  prepared  for  the  meeting  at  two 
o'clock,  when  the  encounter  was  once  more  opened."  ' 

During  the  whole  of  this  delicate  but  tedious  business 
Cobden  was  harassed  by  the  growing  strain  of  the 
political  situation.  The  French  and  British  Govern- 
ments accused  one  another  of  increasing  their  armed 
preparations,    either    upon    grounds    of   unjust  suspicion 

«   "Life,"  ii.  295. 
255 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

or  with  aggressive  intentions.  The  annexation  of 
Savoy  had  seemed  to  us  the  first  step  in  a  larger 
career  of  imperialist  aggression,  which,  according  to  the 
information  given  by  M.  de  Girardin  to  Cobden,  in- 
cluded an  extension  of  the  French  frontier  to  the 
Rhine   and   a  pacific   annexation   of  Belgium. 

On  the  other  hand,  Prince  Napoleon,  the  ablest 
survivor  of  his  family,  in  conversation  with  Cobden  in 
June,  imputed  the  bad  relations  between  the  two 
countries  mainly  to  our  vacillating  foreign  policy  and 
our  constant  increase  of  arms.  It  was  during  this  con- 
versation that  Prince  Napoleon  made  the  interesting 
suggestion  which  Cobden  thus  records  in  his    Diary : — 

"  He  then  said  he  was  about  to  mention  a  delicate 
matter,  and  he  suggested  that  I  ought  to  be  appointed 
Ambassador  to  France;  that  that  would  do  more  than 
anything  besides  to  cement  the  good  relations  between 
the  two  countries.  As  this  was  said  with  a  good  deal 
of  emphasis,  and  appeared  to  be  the  communication 
he  had  in  view  when  he  sent  for  me,  I  replied  with 
equal  emphasis,  '  Impossible !  You  realiy  do  not 
understand  us  in  England  !  '  I  then  explained  exactly 
my  position  towards  Lord  Cowley  :  that  I  had  been  from 
the  first  only  an  interloper  in  his  domain  ;  that  he  had 
acted  with  great  magnanimity  in  tolerating  my  intru- 
sion ;  that  a  man  of  narrow  mind  would  have  resented 
it,  and  either  have  given  up  his  part  altogether  to  me 
or  have  resisted  my  encroachment  on  his  functions.  I 
remarked  that  Lord  Cowley  had  frankly  owned  that  I 
had  superior  knowledge  to  himself  on  questions  of  a 
commercial  or  economical  character,  and  that,  considering 
how  much  they  had  been  my  study,  it  was  not  dero- 
gatory to  him  to  grant  me  precedence  in  my  own 
speciality.  I  begged  him  to  say  no  more  upon  the 
subject." 

256 


The  French  Treaty 

As  the  summer  advanced  Cobden's  plans  were  more 
and  more  disturbed  by  the  English  proposals  for  fresh 
military  expenditure,  which,  as  he  urged,  "  completely 
falsified  my  promises  to  the  Emperor."  Fanned  by 
the  fire-eaters  of  the  Press,  the  panic  spread  through  the 
nation  and  was  shared  by  all  the  men  who  counted  in 
the  Government,  excepting  Gladstone,  who,  keeping 
in  close  personal  touch  with  Cobden,  was  able  to  bring 
closely  informed  eloquence  to  bear  in  his  pacific  speeches. 
Even  Palmerston,  who  until  the  winter  of  1859  had 
been  a  supporter  of  the  Emperor,  succumbed  to  the 
prevailing  passion  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  "at 
the  bottom  of  his  heart  there  rankles  a  deep  and  in- 
extinguishable desire  to  humble  and  punish  England." 

On  July  10th  Cobden  addressed  to  Palmerston  a 
long  letter  of  remonstrance  and  argument  of  which 
the  following  are  the  most  salient  passages  : — 

"  The  extraordinary  military  and  warlike  displays 
of  the  last  few  months  in  England  have  tended  to 
diminish  the  hopes  which  were  at  first  entertained  in 
connection  with  the  treaty.  And  this  state  of  discourage- 
ment in  the  public  mind  has  been  increased  by  the 
rumour  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Government  to 
propose  a  large  increase  to  our  permanent  defences." 
11  It  is  on  this  point  that  I  am  more  immediately  led 
to  address  you.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  two 
questions  are  intimately  connected  ;  and  I  venture 
to  suggest  that,  in  fairness  to  the  public  and  to 
Parliament,  as  well  as  to  the  Government  itself,  the 
results  of  our  negotiations  here  should  be  known,  before 
the  country  is  pledged  to  a  further  large  outlay  tor 
defensive  armaments."  "  Should  the  treaty  prove  as 
unsatisfactory  in  its  details  as  is  predicted  by  those  who 
are  urging  us  to  an  increase  of  our  warlike  preparations, 
I    shall    have    nothing    to    say   in   opposition   to   such   a 

257  R 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

policy.  But  if,  as  I  expect,  the  French  Government 
should  take  but  a  single  step  from  their  prohibition 
system  to  a  tariff  more  liberal  than  that  of  the 
Zollverein  or  the  United  States,  then  I  think  the  public 
mind  in  Europe  will  undergo  a  considerable  change 
as  to  the  prospects  of  peace  with  our  great  neighbour, 
and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  country,  on  the  very 
eve  of  such  a  change,  will  subject  itself  to  increased 
burdens  in  anticipation  of  a  rupture  with  its  new 
customer.  All  I  desire  is  that  it  should  be  allowed  a 
choice  when  in  possession  of  a  full  knowledge  of  these 
circumstances."  "  In  the  important  discussions  on  the 
details  of  the  French  tariff  (and  it  is  wholly  a  question 
of  details)  I  shall  be  placed  in  a  very  disadvantageous 
position,  and  shall  find  myself  deprived  of  those 
arguments  with  which  I  most  successfully  urged  the 
adoption  of  the  Free  Trade  policy,  if  in  the  meantime 
the  present  Government  commits  itself,  and  what  is  still 
more  important  in  the  sight  of  France,  if  it  be  allowed 
to  commit  the  Free  Trade  and  popular  party  in  England, 
to  a  permanent  attitude  of  hostility  and  mistrust." 

Palmerston  remained  unconvinced,  and  a  fortnight 
later  introduced  his  proposals  for  increased  armaments 
in  a  speech  directly  offensive  in  its  allusions  to  danger 
from  France.  It  had  a  most  injurious  effect  on  French 
opinion.  Cobden  wrote  in  his  Diary  that  "  People  speak 
of  it  as  an  indication  that  our  Court  and  aristocracy 
are  inclined  to  renew  the  attitude  of  1792,  by  forming 
another  coalition  in  opposition  to  France.  They  say 
that  the  inspiration  of  our  policy  in  arming  and  fortify- 
ing comes  from  Berlin  and  Brussels  through  the  British 
Court."  This  was  the  view  of  Prince  Napoleon,  and 
M.  Rouher,  Cobden's  stoutest  political  aid  in  carrying 
through  the  Treaty,  was  not  less  outspoken  in  his  con- 
demnation of  Palmerston's  speech. 

258 


EUGENE   ROUHER   (1814-84). 


[To  tic*  pag«  JJS. 


The  French  Treaty 

"He  characterized  the  policy  of  our  Cabinet  as  a 
pitiful  truckling  to  the  popular  passions  of  the  moment, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  a  majority  in  Parliament. 
in  disregard  of  the  interests  of  commerce  and  civilization 
and  the  higher  duties  of  statesmanship." 

But  while  the  political  value  of  the  treaty  was  thus 
grievously  impaired,  the  instrument  itself  was  brought 
to  completion,  though  not  without  further  impediments 
and  delays.  Cobden  thus  comments  in  his  Diary  upon 
the  obstructive  attitude  : — 

"  This  Convention  was  ready  for  signature,  so  far 
as  the  negotiation  here  was  concerned,  on  the  18th 
September,  and  the  delay  which  had  taken  place  is 
attributable  to  our  Foreign  Office,  to  their  habitual 
procrastination,  the  desire  to  meddle,  and  I  fear  also 
to  the  willingness  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  officials 
in  that  department  to  find  fault  with  my  performance. 
My  position  is  that  of  a  poacher  and  their  feeling 
towards  me  is  akin  to  that  of  a  gamekeeper  towards  a 
trespasser  in  quest  of  game.  I  am  afraid,  too,  that  the 
majority  of  the  Cabinet  is  not  very  eager  for  my  complete 
success  here.  The  tone  of  our  Court  is  very  hostile 
to  the  French  Emperor,  and  in  the  present  nearly 
balanced  state  of  political  parties  the  Court  has  great 
influence.  There  is  an  instinctive  feeling  on  the  part 
of  our  aristocratic  politicians  that,  if  the  Treaty  should 
prove  successful  and  result  in  a  largely  increased  trade 
between  France  and  England,  it  would  produce  a  state 
of  feeling  which  might  lead  to  a  mutual  reduction  of 
armaments,  and  thus  cut  down  the  expenditure  for  our 
warlike  services  in  which  our  aristocratic  system 
flourishes." 

•  •  •  •  • 

At  last  the  second  Supplementary  Convention,  com- 
pleting the   treaty,  was  signed   on   November   1 6th,  and 

259 


Richard   Cobden  :    The  International  Man 

Cobden  was  set  free  for  a  much-needed  holiday.  He 
left  in  December,  with  his  wife  and  eldest  daughter,  for 
Algiers,  where   he    remained    until    the    following    May. 

The  proposal,  raised  in  certain  friendly  political 
quarters,  to  vote  him  a  sum  of  money  for  his  services 
at  Paris,  was  peremptorily  stopped  by  Cobden  in  its 
initial  stage,  and  he  was  equally  firm  in  refusing 
Palmerston's  offer  to  make  him  a  Baronet  or  a  Privy 
Councillor.  Tn  his  letter  of  refusal  to  Palmerston  he 
says  : — 

"  With  respect  to  the  particular  occasion  for  which 
it  is  proposed  to  confer  on  me  this  distinction,  I  may 
say  that  it  would  not  be  agreeable  to  me  to  accept  a 
recompense  in  any  form  for  my  recent  labours  in  Paris. 
The  only  reward  I  desire  is  to  live  to  witness  an  im- 
provement in  the  relations  of  the  two  great  neighbouring 
nations  which  have  been  brought  into  more  intimate 
connection  by  the  Treaty  of  Commerce." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  here  to  dwell  upon  the  great 
importance  of  Cobden's  treaty,  not  only  for  the 
commerce  of  this  country  and  for  the  improved  political 
relations  with  France,  but  for  its  contribution  to  the 
wider  policy  of  free  commercial  intercourse  throughout 
the  world.  The  purists  of  Free  Trade  who  objected 
to  any  commercial  treaty,  as  binding  our  national  fiscal 
policy  and  buying  favours  by  favours,  were  mistaken 
in  their  objections.  England  did  not,  by  the  French 
treaty,  give  any  special  favour  to  French  products 
entering  this  country.  England  maintained  no  differ- 
ential duties  and  the  reduction  or  abandonment  of  our 
import  duties  upon  agreed  classes  of  goods  extended 
automatically  to  every  other  nation  besides  France. 
France,  on  her  part,  took  the  treaty  as  the  model  for 
a  number  of  similar  trade  treaties  extended  within  the 
next  five  years  to  cover  Belgium,  the  German  Zollverein, 

260 


The   French  Treaty 

Italy,  Scandinavia,  Austria  and  Switzerland.  Thus 
was  erected  and  applied  the  principle  of  most-favoured 
nation's  treatment,  by  which  every  arrangement  to  re- 
duce a  tariff  with  one  country  has  a  liberating  effect  tar 
wider  than  its  immediate  area  of  application  and  helps 
to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  international  commercial 
co-operation. 

■  •  •  •  • 

Cobden's  absorption  upon  this  laborious  task  and  his 
long  absence  from  Parliament  and  from  close  contact  with 
affairs  at  home  naturally  reduced  the  volume  of  his  corre- 
spondence with  Mr.  Richards  and  other  friends.  But  the 
letters  written  this  year  show  that  he  was  still  following 
with  zest  the  affairs  of  China  and  India,  and  that  from 
Paris  he  kept  a  guiding  hand  upon  the  agitation  against 
increased  armaments  which  his  friends  in  England  were 
organizing. 

"  June  1 6,  i860. 
"  I  observe  what  Lord  John  said  about  China  matters. 
But  I  am  not  without  hopes  yet  that  Lord  Elgin  will 
reach  his  destination  in  time  to  prevent  a  renewal  of  the 
war.  He  has  a  common  interest  with  the  Government  in 
putting  an  end  to  the  expense  which  is  the  great  rock 
ahead  for  Gladstone.  Lord  E.  never  ought  to  have 
returned  before  the  ratifications  were  exchanged  and  left 
the  matter  in  the  hands  of  his  brother,  who  is  evidently  a 
commonplace  person  with  just  those  contentious  attributes 
which  led  him  to  be  constantly  seizing  the  small  ends  of 
things,  the  only  ends  he  was  competent  to  handle.  This 
conduct  of  Lord  E.,  by  the  way,  is  an  illustration  of  the 
aristocratic  system  under  which  we  are  ruled  and  which 
is  practically  an  irresponsible  regime.  It  he  had  been  an 
employee  of  this  or  the  United  States  Government,  he 
could   not   have  done   so  with   impunity.       But  being   a 

261 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

lord  he  is  invulnerable.  Apart  from  this  he  is  not  to 
be  blamed  for  his  proceedings  in  China,  which  were 
conducted  with  temper  and  moderation. 

"  Apropos  of  this  subject,  I  have  been  in  correspon- 
dence with  some  persons  at  Manchester  in  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  and  urging  them  to  take  the  question  of 
China  politics  into  their  hands.  I  believe  the  Lancashire 
people,  who  are  more  interested  than  any  one  besides  in 
the  trade  with  China,  are  not  in  favour  of  a  warlike  policy. 
They  are  afraid  that  it  may  have  the  effect  of  throwing 
the  whole  empire  into  confusion.  I  wrote  a  letter  to 
one  of  my  friends,  who  put  the  substance  of  it  into  the 
Manchester  Examiner  with  the  signature  of  '  A  London 
Merchant,'  and  it  will  be  also  in  the  Morning  Star,  I 
expect,  to-day  or  Monday.  I  am  following  this  up,  and 
hope  to  identify  the  Manchester  people  with  a  peace 
policy  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  own  interests. 
The  last  correspondence  between  the  China  Government 
and  Mr.  Bruce  places  us  more  in  the  wrong  than  ever. 
How  our  conduct  must  puzzle  the  Chinese  !  They  must 
regard  us  as  a  people  without  moral  sense,  common  sense, 
or  any  logical  faculties.  Some  great  retribution  must 
befall  us  in  the  East  to  vindicate  the  justice  of  God's 
government.  My  only  astonishment  is  that  we  have  been 
allowed  to  run  riot  so  long. 

"  Here  I  am  immersed  in  the  details  of  the  French 
tariff,  a  tedious  task  and  slow,  but  one  which  could  not 
be  avoided.  I  am  more  than  ever  satisfied  that  the  result 
will  be  a  great  reality,  and  not  the  sham  which  your  rifle- 
club  heroes  are  predicting.  The  state  of  the  public  mind 
is  so  suspicious  in  England  regarding  everything  French, 
and  especially  everything  which  the  Emperor's  Govern- 
ment meddles  with,  that  not  one  person  in  a  hundred 
believes  that  I  am  doing  anything  better  than  subjecting 
myself  to  the  tricky  devices  of  a  gang  of  unscrupulous 

262 


The   French  Treaty 

swindlers,  and  that  nothing  satisfactory  can  result  from 
my  labours.  It  is  almost  incredible  that  so  many  people 
still  allow  themselves  to  be  influenced  by  their  belief  in 
The  Times,  though  that  paper  never  believes  in  itself  for 
three  days  together.  By  the  way,  what  can  be  the  motive 
of  that  journal  in  so  systematically  and  with  such  trans- 
parent dishonesty  attacking  the  treaty,  and  refusing  to 
wait  till  the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  completed, 
but  passing  judgment  in  anticipation  ?  It  cannot  be  to 
please  its  readers  of  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing 
classes,  for  they  desire  to  be  quiet  and  wait  at  all  events 
to  see  if  any  good  can  be  got  from  the  treaty.  It  seems 
as  if  that  journal  had  sworn  to  pull  down  the  Emperor  or 
to  embroil  the  countries  in  the  attempt.  What  is  their 
motive  ?  Are  they  under  sinister  influences  or  are  they 
satanic  enough  to  do  their  vile  work  for  the  mere  love  of 
mischief  ? 

"  Can  it  be  possible  that  the  Government  is  looking 
with  favour  to  the  plan  of  expending  £14,000,000  for 
fortifications  in  addition  to  the  thirty  millions  already 
voted  for  armaments  ?  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe 
it.  Having  now  been  nearly  nine  months  in  France, 
mixing  with  everybody,  having  access  to  all  information 
and  knowing  what  is  doing  by  the  Government,  I  declare 
to  you  that  I  am  only  the  more  lost  in  amazement  at  the 
cry  of  invasion  which  is  still  potent  enough  to  draw 
millions  of  money  at  any  moment  from  the  pockets  of 
the  people.  Most  solemnly  do  I  assure  you  that  a 
delusion  more  gigantic,  or  a  hoax  more  successful,  was 
never  practised  on  the  public  mind  since  the  days  of 
Titus  Oates,  and  including  the  feats  of  that  immortal 
impostor.  There  is  not  one  fact  to  warrant  the  belief 
that  the  Emperor  or  the  French  people  desire  to  draw  on 
themselves  the  greatest  of  calamities,  a  war  with  England  ; 
there  are  thousands  of  facts  spread  over  ten  years  to  prove 

263 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

that  he  wishes  to  be  at  peace  with  us.  If  forced  to  a 
choice,  he  would  prefer  a  war  with  the  whole  Continent 
to  a  war  with  England.  In  the  one  he  might  conquer,  in 
the  other  he  knows  he  could  have  nothing  but  suffering 
for  his  people  without  the  power  to  strike  a  blow  in 
return.  It  is  a  thing  so  monstrous  from  my  present 
point  of  view  that  I  hardly  have  patience  to  discuss  it. 

"  I  trust  our  friends  in  Parliament  will  refuse  to  be 
identified  with  anything  so  monstrous.  And  indeed  1 
will  not  believe  that  the  Government  really  contemplates 
proposing  such  a  waste  of  public  money. 

"  Give  me  a  few  years  for  the  operation  of  my  treaty, 
and  I  will  make  it  very  difficult  for  diplomatists  or 
anonymous  journalists  to  set  the  two  nations  at  work 
cutting  each  other's  throats.  My  only  fear  is  that  they 
who  do  not  like  this  prospect  will  destroy  my  work  before 
it  can  produce  its  good  fruits." 

'■'■August  10,  i860. 
"  I  send  by  this  day's  courier  from  the  Embassy  a  copy 
of  the  pamphlet  to  which  you  refer.  It  is  now  published 
for  sale  avowedly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Government 
here.  Could  it  be  translated  ?  It  strikes  me  that  taking 
into  account,  on  both  sides,  the  forces  by  land  and  sea,  at 
home  and  abroad,  regular  and  voluntary,  there  are  more 
British  than  French  being  drilled  to  arms  at  this  moment. 
We  are  certainly  spending  from  five  to  six  millions  more 
than  the  French  on  our  Army  and  Navy.  Yet  we  turn 
up  the  whites  of  our  eyes  and  thank  Heaven  we  are  not  a 
warlike  or  military  nation  as  the  other  nations  of  the 
Continent !  There  is,  I  fear,  as  you  say,  no  direct  and 
immediate  cure  for  the  madness  that  has  come  over  the 
people  of  England.  But  what  concerns  me  is  the  danger 
of  this  state  of  things  leading  to  another  great  European 
war.      I  don't  like  the  gathering  of  crowned  heads,  and 

264 


The   French  Treaty 


the  tone  of  feeling  towards  France.  In  Germany  and 
Switzerland  the  newspapers  are  as  bad  as  our  own.  There 
are  sometimes  half  a  dozen  of  the  German  journals  seized 
at  the  French  frontiers  in  a  day  for  outrageous  articles 
against  the  Emperor.  Unfortunately,  too,  there  is  among 
the  Liberal  Prussian  party  a  growing  idea  that  a  war  with 
France  is  the  best  solution  of  their  internal  German  diffi- 
culty, which  is  at  the  bottom  of  much  of  their  restlessness 
upon  foreign  questions.  The  Germans  are  yearning  for 
a  more  perfect  union,  which  is  impeded  by  the  pretensions 
of  their  small  kings  and  dukes.  The  Prussian  Liberals 
have  an  idea  that  a  war  with  France  would  get  rid  of 
them  all.  If  they  feel  sure  that  they  can  reckon  on 
England  in  case  of  a  rupture  with  France,  they  will  not 
long  be  without  an  occasion  for  a  quarrel.  In  fact,  all 
this  preparation  and  menace  on  the  part  of  other  countries 
will  make  it  the  more  difficult  for  the  French  Emperor  to 
put  up  with  an  affront  from  any  quarter.  It  is  easy  to 
bear  hard  words  from  an  unarmed  man,  but  even  a  look 
may  convey  an  intolerable  insult  from  one  who  is  threaten- 
ing you  with  a  loaded  pistol.  It  is  the  same  with  nations. 
The  real  difficulty  and  danger  is  that  France  and  England 
and  other  countries  are  gradually  assuming  such  an  attitude 
of  armed  defiance  that  they  may  some  day  be  placed  in 
such  a  predicament  that  war  or  humiliation  to  one  or  the 
other  may  be  inevitable.  Hitherto  the  French  Govern- 
ment have  scarcely  taken  a  step  to  increase  their  arma- 
ments. In  respect  of  their  Navy  they  have  really  done 
nothing.  But  if  Germany  and  England  continue  their 
course  France  must  of  necessity  follow. 

"  The  great  evil  we  have  to  contend  with  in  England 
is  that  the  people  are  really  misled  and  are  under  the 
impression  that  France  is  meditating  an  attack  on  them. 
The  Government  takes  advantage  of  this  to  lay  on  heavy 
and    unnecessary   taxes    for    armaments    which    naturally 

2.65 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

increase  the  irritation.  How  is  this  to  be  met  ?  The 
Government  alone  could  speak  with  authority  and  dis- 
abuse the  public  mind,  but  that  is  not  their  cue.  Unfor- 
tunately the  people  will  not  believe  anybody  else,  and 
least  of  all  you  and  me.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that 
if  I  were  free  I  would  pay  a  visit  to  the  editors  of  the 
leading  newspapers  in  the  provinces  and  show  them 
quietly  how  they  had  been  imposed  upon. 

"  But  perhaps,  after  all,  what  I  am  now  doing  here, 
and  which  must  in  two  months  more  be  brought  to 
a  close,  is,  as  you  say,  the  best  and  only  way  of  really 
reaching  the  roots  of  the  evil.  I  hope  when  the  new 
French  tariff"  is  published  it  will  be  so  complete  a  revolu- 
tion in  the  French  commercial  system  as  to  convince 
the  English  public  they  have  been  under  a  great  delu- 
sion with  respect  to  the  policy  of  the  Emperor.  I  am 
afraid  that  my  friend  Henry  Ashworth  was  right  when 
he  said,  'Get  the  two  nations  into  debt  with  each 
other,  and  the  ledger  will  do  more  than  the  Bible  to 
keep  them  at  peace'!  It  is  lamentable  enough  that 
there  should  be  so  much  truth  in  this  sentiment." 


'■'■November  13,  1S60. 

"  Do  not  take  a  step  about  armaments  until  I  have 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  you.  I  mean  a  direct  step, 
such  as  a  meeting  of  the  friends  of  peace  on  the 
subject.  1  shall  have  something  to  say  to  you  and 
our  friends  upon   the  subject  when   we  meet. 

"  Observe  the  tone  which  The  Times  takes  upon  the 
treaty.  I  am  glad  of  this,  for  it  will  infallibly  sink 
it  in   the  estimation  of  the  commercial   classes. 

"  If  I  were  on  the  spot,  I  should  suggest  an  article 
or  a  letter  in  the  Star  putting  the  conduct  of  The 
Times,  in  thus,  by  its  opposition  to  the  treaty,  braving 

266 


The   French  Treaty 

the  proof  of  facts  and  the  universal  approbation  of  the 
manufacturing  districts,  on  a  choice  of  hypotheses.  Either 
it  must  be  a  desperate  game  to  prevent  the  paper  duty 
from  being  abolished  and  thus  being  itself  swallowed 
up  by  the  cheap  Press.  To  do  which  Gladstone  and 
his  financial  policy,  of  which  the  treaty  is  the  corner- 
stone,  must  be  discredited. 

"  Or  it  must  be,  as  some  people  have  long  believed, 
itself  in  some  way  in  the  hands  or  under  the  influence 
of  the  Orleans  party,  and  is  doing  its  best  to  prevent 
that  consolidation  of  peace  between  the  two  countries, 
arising  out  of  the  success  of  the  treaty,  which  that 
party  dread  because  they  believe  that  it  would  strengthen 
the  Buonaparte  dynasty.  There  is,  of  course,  a  collateral 
aim  in  view.  The  Times  knows  that  the  only  way  of 
keeping  up  our  present  enormous  expenditure  is  by 
maintaining  the  hostile  attitude  between  France  and 
England,  and  that  the  moment  this  expenditure  slackens 
the  paper  duty  goes.  There  is  nothing  but  an  over- 
powering motive,  such  as  is  to  be  found  in  one  ot 
these  alternatives,  which  can  account  for  this  paper 
persisting  in  going,  on  a  question  of  commercial  interest, 
in  the  teeth  of  the  unanimous  feeling  of  the  mercantile 
and  manufacturing  classes.  Can  you  pen  a  letter  to 
the  Star  in   this  sense  ? 

"  Mr.  Hargreaves,  in  a  letter  which  1  recently  got 
from  him,  said  that  the  Telegraph  accused  The  Times  ot 
wishing  to  keep  up  the  expenditure  in  order  to  prevent 
the  repeal  of  the  paper  duty.  If  this,  which  I  believe 
is  the  true  view  of  the  case,  could  be  made  apparent 
to  all  the  cheap  Press,  it  would  give  you  the  best 
possible  assistance  in  promoting  the  reduction  of  arma- 
ments. It  is  therefore  desirable  that  this  view  should 
be  well  expounded  in   the  Star." 

267 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 


"  December  31,  i860. 
"  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  beautiful  climate  here 
(Algiers),  where  we  sit  all  day  with  our  windows 
open,  and  now  as  I  write,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  my  wife  has  just  closed  the  Venetian  blinds 
because  the  sun  is  too  hot,  and  where  we  are  eating 
green  peas  and  ripe  strawberries  ;  if  I  dwelt  on  this, 
it  might  make  you  dissatisfied  with  your  snow  and 
frost,  and  so   I  will  go  to  business. 

"  I  wish   you    would    write   a    paper    or    two    on    our 
commercial   relations  with  China,  to  be  printed    in    the 
first  place  in  the  Star  and  then  published  in   a  pamph- 
let form,  and  I  should  like  it  done  before  the  meeting 
of    Parliament.      The     point    I    wish    to    see    developed 
is  this,  what  has  been    the  increase  of   our    trade    since 
we  began  '  opening    up  '  China  by  the  Opium  War   in 
1 840,  and  what  has  been  the  increase  of  our  expendi- 
ture, civil  and  military,  in  that  country  ?     The  statistics 
of  the  trade  might  be  furnished  for  you  through  some 
house    engaged    in    that    quarter    and    who    sympathizes 
with    our   views.     Or    I    am    sure    my  last  colleague  of 
the    Paris    Commission,    Mr.    Mallet,  of    the    Board    of 
Trade,   or  our   intelligent   Secretary,  Mr.   Lock,  of  that 
department,  would   help  you   to  put  your   fingers  on   the 
official  tables  in  the   Blue  books.      As  to  the  trade  direct 
with   the  Chinese,  it  resolves  itself  into  the  quantity  of 
tea    and  silk  we    take    from    them,  and   the    quantity  of 
manufacture  we  send  direct,  and  the  quantity  of  opium 
which   is  purchased    by  our  manufacturers  in    India  ami 
sent     to  China    as    a    remittance.       There    is    also    some 
specie.      If  you  can  contrive  to  interest  some  intelligent 
merchant,     he    would    help     you.       White,     M.P.     for 
Brighton,   is  acquainted  with    the    Shanghai    trade.      He 
lived  there  six   years. 

268 


The   French  Treaty 

"As  respects  the  expenditure  in  China.  There  is 
first  the  amount  which  our  wars  cost  in  excess  of  the 
indemnities  extorted.  This  is  not  very  easily  arrived 
at.  But  the  increase  of  the  current  annual  expenditure, 
beyond  what  we  spent  before  we  began  to  bring  armies 
and  navies  to  aid  our  commerce  in  China,  may  be  more 
easily  ascertained.  I  think  Sir  W.  Molesworth,  in  one 
of  his  great  'Colonies'  speeches  alluded  to  the  growth 
of  this  expenditure.  Montgomery  Martin  also,  I  think, 
in  his  huge  pamphlet,  gives  some  facts.  If  there  has 
been  no  Parliamentary  return  of  the  expenditure  on 
'  works'  at  Hong-Kong,  the  amount  could  with  a  little 
trouble  be  picked  out  of  the  annual  estimates.  Did 
not  Lord  Kllenborough  move  for  a  return  in  the  House 
of  Lords  last  year  of  the  warlike  expenditure  in  China  ? 
The  fact  is,  as  you  have  often  observed,  that,  when 
once  the  amount  of  force  on  the  coast  of  China  has  been 
raised  by  a  war,  it  never  comes  back  on  the  return  of 
peace  to  what  it  was  before.  This  will  be  most 
strikingly  the  case  at  present,  for  we  have  thrown  that 
country  into  a  state  of  anarchy  by  our  violence  and 
injustice. 

c<  If  you  can  present  a  dry  debtor  and  creditor  account 
now  of  the  profit  and  loss  of  our  wicked  outrages  in 
that  country,  I  think  the  public  mind  is  in  a  state  to 
listen,  and  your  facts  shall  certainly  be  reproduced  in 
Parliament.  Let  me  hear  if  I  can  be  of  further  use. 
The  postage  to  this  place  is  the  same  as  to  France." 

A  few  other  passages  from  letters  of  this  period, 
addressed  to  other  friends,  may  be  conveniently  given  here. 

To  J.  Schwann,  Esq. 

"July  6,  i860. 

"  I  must  say  I  have  heard  with  sorrow  (not  unmixed, 
I  will  own,  with  indignant  surprise)  that  there  are  men 

269 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

in  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire,  who  cheered  me  on  at 
public  meetings  whilst  advocating  arbitration  and  non- 
intervention, who  now  profess  to  disapprove  of  the 
course  I  took,  because,  forsooth,  I  refused  to  surrender 
those  principles  to  the  exigencies  of  a  political  party. 
They  know  little  of  my  character  if  they  think  me 
capable  ot  pursuing  a  course  which  would  sacrifice  for 
any  such  consideration  my  long-cherished  convictions. 
If  they  want  a  man  who  will  put  on  and  off  his  principles 
at  the  bidding  of  Treasury  vvhippers-in,  they  must  look 
out   for  another  and   more  pleasant  representative." 


This  is  a  convenient  place  to  insert  a  few  extracts  from 
Cobden's  letters  to  his  intimate  friend,  M.  Aries  Dufour, 
written  during  the  years  1 86 1-2  and  bearing  mostly 
upon  Anglo-French  relations. 

To  M.  Aries  Dufour. 

"  Algiers,  January  19,  1861. 

"  I  observe  what  you  say  about  the  abstinence  from 
all  allusion  to  the  treaty  in  Palmerston's  speech.  It 
was  certainly  significant.  I  suspected  from  the  first 
that  the  majority  of  our  Cabinet  were  not  much  in 
love  with  my  undertaking  in  Paris.  Our  aristocracy 
and  Court  have  sharp  instincts  where  their  own 
interests  are  concerned,  and  they  feel  probably  in 
some  doubt  whether  they  may  not  be  obliged  to 
abandon  their  tone  of  irritation  and  mistrust  towards 
France  when  the  trading  and  manufacturing  classes 
have  a  good  market  there;  and  then  what  will 
become  of  the  pretence  for  our  enormous  armaments 
which  are  maintained  on  the  plea  of  being  necessary 
to  protect  us  against  the  hostile  designs  of  your 
Emperor  ? 

270 


The   French   Treaty 

11  You  are  quite  right,  it  is  lamentable  to  see  our 
vigorous  communities  under  the  influence  of  these 
old  men  verging  on  fourscore  years.  As  for  Brougham, 
it  is  painful  to  see  him,  in  his  eagerness  to  be  heard 
on  every  topic  of  the  day,  forgetting  what  he  said  in 
his  better  days.  For  instance,  he  has  lately  written 
a  letter  to  an  American  in  which  he  rebuked  him 
for  his  violent  anti-slavery  doctrines  and  for  his 
disregard  of  the  rights  of  the  slave-owners.  Some 
clever  critic  has  extracted  a  passage  from  one  of  his 
own  speeches  against  slavery  made  thirty  years  since, 
in  which  he  denies  the  right  of  property  in  man,  and 
has  published  it  in  juxtaposition  with  an  extract  from 
his  recent  letter.  It  is  a  pity  the  friends  of  the  old 
man  cannot  withdraw  him  from  public  life,  and  thus 
prevent  him  from  tarnishing  the  lustre  of  his  own 
past  fame." 

To  Mr.   IV.  Hargreaves. 

"  Paris,  May  7,  i860. 
"  I  am  not  very  proud  of  the  spectacle  presented 
by  our  merchants,  brokers  and  M.P.'s  in  their  ovations 
to  the  pugilist  Sayers.  This  comes  from  the  brutal 
instincts  having  been  so  sedulously  cultivated  by  our 
wars  in  the  Crimea  and  especially  in  India  and  China. 
I  have  always  dreaded  that  our  national  character 
would  undergo  deterioration  (as  did  that  of  Greece 
and  Rome)  by  our  contact  with  Asia.  With  another 
war  or  two  in  India  and  China  the  English  people 
would  have  an  appetite  for  bull  tights,  if  not  for 
gladiators." 

"  Paris,  August  4,  1860. 
"  The  English  people  in   Parliament  have  undertaken 
to     be     responsible     for    governing     one     hundred     and 
fifty    millions    of   people,   despotically,    in    India.      They 

271 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

have  adopted  the  principle  of  a  military  despotism, 
and  I  have  no  faith  in  such  an  undertaking  being 
anything  but  a  calamity  and  a  curse  to  the  people 
of  England.  Ultimately,  of  course,  Nature  will  assert 
the  supremacy  of  her  laws,  and  the  white  skins  will 
withdraw  to  their  own  latitudes,  leaving  the  Hindoos 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  climate  to  which  their  com- 
plexion is  suited.  In  the  meantime  we  shall  suffer 
all  kinds  of  trouble,  loss,  and  disgrace.  Every  year 
will  witness  an  increased  drain  of  men  and  money  to 
meet  the  loss  entailed  on  us.  In  the  meantime,  too, 
an  artificial  expansion  of  our  exports  growing  out  of 
Government  expenditure  in  India,  will  delude  us  as 
to  the  value  of  our  '  possessions '  in  the  East,  and 
the  pride  of  territorial  greatness  will  prevent  our 
loosening  our  hold  on  them.  Is  it  not  just  possible 
that  we  may  become  corrupted  at  home  by  the 
reaction  of  arbitrary  political  maxims  in  the  East 
upon  our  domestic  politics,  just  as  Greece  and  Rome 
were  demoralized  by  their  contact  with  Asia  ?  But 
I  am  wandering  into  the  regions  of  the  remote  future. 
It  is,  however,  from  an  abiding  conviction  in  my  mind 
that  we  have  entered  on  an  impossible  and  hopeless 
career  in  India,  that  I  can  never  bring  my  mind 
to   take   an  interest   in   the   details   of   its   government." 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER   X 

Cobden's  attachment  to  P" ranee  and  his  French  friends  was 
an  exceedingly  important  influence  in  his  life.  A  typical 
Englishman  in  most  respects,  he  was  attracted  by  that  quality 
of  the  intelligence  which  is  peculiarly  French,  lucidity  and 
the  reasonableness  with  which  it  is  associated.  Cobden  had 
thought  out  for  himself  a  clear,  consistent  body  of  political  and 
economic    thought.      Though     no    pedantic    exponent    of    this 

272 


1  R]  M  RIC    B  IST1  M      i  x"l-50). 


...c  i7J. 


Appendix  to  Chapter  X 

system  among  his  countrymen,  who  have  little  liking  for  logic 
and  less  for  its  application  to  practical  affairs,  Cobden  was 
sufficient  of  a  rationalist  to  believe  that  social  progress  could  and 
should  be  guided  by  clear,  consistent  principles.  He  was  well 
aware  that  these  principles  were  very  imperfectly  izrasped  by  those 
who  had  worked  with  him  most  earnestly  for  the  liberation  of 
trade  in  this  country,  and  that  even  those  who  clearly  compre- 
hended them  as  economic  principles  had  little  realization  of  their 
wider  application  for  breaking  down  the  barriers  of  nationalism 
and  establishing  the  solidarity  of  mankind. 

Now,  among  the  group  of  distinguished  Frenchmen  who 
gathered  round  him  as  a  champion  of  Free  Trade  in  the  late 
forties,  he  found  just  this  quality  of  thought  and  this  enthusiasm 
for  peace  and  internationalism  in  which  most  of  his  Manchester 
friends  were  lacking.  The  most  brilliant  exponent  of  the 
sheer  logic  of  Free  Trade  in  this  or  any  other  country  was 
Frederic  Bastiat,  a  scholar  and  country  gentleman,  who,  brooding 
long  in  seclusion  over  political  theories,  discovered  in  1845  that 
a  powerful  body  of  Englishmen  were  engaged  in  trying  to  put 
his  reasoning  into  practice.  Coming  over  to  this  country,  he 
spent  some  time  studying  the  work  of  the  League  and  formed 
a  personal  attachment  to  Cobden,  whose  presentation  of  the 
issue  came  nearest  to  his  own.  From  that  time  on  he  remained 
a  close  friend  and  correspondent  of  Cobden.  His  book  "  Cobden 
et  la  Ligue  "  spread  the  gospel  most  effectively  in  France,  and 
his  "  Sophismes  Economiques "  remains  the  sharpest  and  most 
humorous  exposure  of  protectionist  fallacies.  A  speculative 
mind,  Bastiat  saw  all  the  implications  of  Free  Trade  in  the 
development  of  a  sound  foreign  policy  based  on  peace,  economy, 
colonial  emancipation  and  anti-imperialism.  His  friendly  rela- 
tions with  Cobden  were  maintained  until  his  death  in  1850. 
But,  as  he  himself  recognized,  he  was  not  fitted  for  political 
agitation,  and  the  active  leadership  of  the  group  of  men  who 
from  this  time  forth  struggled  to  hold  up  the  banner  of  inter- 
nationalism in  an  intensely  nationalistic  people  fell  to  other 
hands. 

The  most  important  or  these  was  M.  Michel  Chevalier,  a  dis- 
tinguished member  of  the  little  band  who  in  the  thirties  attached 
themselves  to  the  principles  of  Saint-Simon,  an  early  speculator 
upon  socialism,  and  one  who  had  applied  himself  with  special  zeal 

273  S 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to  the  promotion  of  international  union  by  improved  communica- 
tions and  commerce.  It  was  he  who  was  chiefly  instrumental 
in  inducing  Cobden  to  undertake  the  onerous  and  delicate 
negotiations  which  led  to  the  French  Treaty.  Lord  Morley 
describes  how  a  speech  of  John  Bright's  in  the  Session  of  1857, 
proposing  an  approach  to  the  French  Emperor  upon  the  question 
of  Free  Trade,  fired  the  mind  of  Chevalier,  who  wrote  to 
Cobden  on  the  subject  and,  visiting  this  country  in  the  summer 
of  that  year,  urged  him  to  undertake  the  conversion  of  the 
Emperor.  Chevalier  was  one  of  the  little  knot  of  ardent  re- 
formers with  whom  Cobden  kept  in  closest  personal  touch  during 
his  residence  in  Paris. 

Other  members  of  the  group  were  M.  Paillottet,  one  of 
Cobden's  most  active  correspondents,  though  unfortunately  the 
letters  passing  between  them  have  been  lost  ;  Frederic  Passy, 
who  survived  well  into  this  century,  one  of  the  most  ardent 
advocates  of  peace  and  internationalism  ;  M.  de  Molinari,  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  "Journal  des  Economistes  and  a  leading 
writer  upon  economic  questions;  and  M.  Emile  de  Girardin, 
at  whose  house  Cobden  met  Prince  Napoleon  in  January  i860, 
and  with  whom  he  kept  up  a  close  friendship  afterwards.  To 
M.  de  Girardin  we  owe  the  famous  eulogy  in  the  Introduction 
of  the  volume  published  in  August  1865  in  Paris  to  the  memory 
of  Cobden  by  his  French  admirers. 

"  Nommer  Christophe  Colomb,  c'est  nommer  le  nouveau 
monde  ;  nommer  Richard  Cobden,  c'est  nommer  le  monde 
economique.  Rien  ne  manque  a  la  justesse  de  ce  rapproche- 
ment, car  Robert  Peel  doit  a  Richard  Cobden  sa  celebritc, 
comme  Americ  Vespuce  a  du  la  sienne  a  Christophe  Colomb. 

"  Le  monde  economique  :  c'est  le  monde  transforme  ;  c'est  la 
paix  succcdant  a  la  guerre  ;  c'est  la  science  detronant  la  force  ; 
c'est  l'esprit  de  reciprocitc  chassant  l'esprit  de  rivalitc  ;  c'est  la 
libertd  des  echanges  abaissant  de  toutes  parts  la  hauteur  des 
barrieres  ;  c'est  1'unite  de  lois  et  d'usages,  de  monnaies,  de  poids 
et  de  mesures,  simplifiant  tous  les  rapports  de  peuples  entre  eux  ; 
c'est  la  neutralite  universelle  des  mers  ;  c'est  l'abolition  de 
l'esclavage  et  du  servage  sur  tous  les  points  du  globe  ;  c'est  la 
redemption  definitive  de  l'homme  par  le  travail,  mais  stimule 
par  l'epargne  et  fecond6  par  le  credit. 

"  A  l'entier  accomplissement  de  cette  bienfaisante  transforma. 

274 


Appendix  to  Chapter   X 

tion,  il  ne  manque  plus  que  le  Souverain  qui  mettra  judicieuse- 
ment  sa  gloire  a  r6colter  ce  que  Richard  Cobden  a  mis  laborieuse- 
ment  toute  sa  vie  a  semer." 

The  greater  portion  of  the  memorial  volume  consists  of  an 
eloquent  account  of  Cobden 's  character  and  influence  as  a  worker 
for  international  friendship,  and  in  particular  for  the  establishment 
of  friendly  relations  between  his  own  country  and  France.  I 
quote  one  illuminating  passage  :  "  Richard  Cobden  etait  anglais, 
fier  et  heureux  d'etre,  admirateur  de  sa  patrie  et  de  l'ensemble  de 
ses  institutions,  mais  non  aveuglement  et  sans  reserve.  Adversaire, 
en  general,  du  monopole  et  du  privilege,  et  ami  chaud  de  l'<5galit6, 
il  ne  nourissait  aucun  sentiment  amer  contre  l'aristocratie  de  son 
pays  ;  sa  belle-ame  si  bienveillante  repoussait  instinctivement  le 
fiel.  Mais  tout  en  restant  anglais  sur  ses  habitudes  et  ses  affec- 
tions, il  croyait  fermement  qu'ici  bas  l'homme  a  deux  patries,  la 
communaute  ou  il  a  vu  le  jour,  et  la  terre,  patrimonie  commun 
du  genre  humain.  C'dtait  entendre  le  patriotisme  a  la  grande 
maniere  du  CiceVon  qui  est  si  bien  d'accord  avec  la  philosophic 
moderne,  ie  pourrais  dire  avec  le  g^nie  du  Christianisme.  Le 
sentiment  cosmopolite  n'etait  pas  chez  lui  a  qu'il  est  chez  d'autres 
si  souvent,  un  signe  d'indifFerence,  une  forme  policee  de  l'^goisme. 
C'etait  une  sympathie  forte  et  agissante,  l'amour  de  l'humanitd,  une 
sorte  de  religion.  A  ses  yeux  les  haines  nationales  etaient  un 
contre-sens  et  une  duperie,  un  debris  d'un  temps  passee  ou  le 
travail  6tait  d^daigne  et  fletri,  et  ou  l'exploitation  du  faible  par  le 
fort  6tait  au  dedans  la  base  du  gouvernement  des  Etats,  au 
dehors  le  but  et  la  regie  de  leur  politique  ;  un  debris  que  dans 
certains  pays  au  moins,  les  classes  dominantes  s'efForcaient  de 
conserver  pour  leur  avantage  propre  et  pour  le  maintien  de  leur 
ascendant.  L'hostilite  systematique  entre  l'Angleterre  et  la 
France  lui  semblait  une  aberration  ou  l'absurde  allait  jusqu'a 
l'odieux.  11  pensait  que  si,  au  lieu  de  se  jalouser  dans  les  quatrc 
parties  du  monde,  ces  deux  puissances  vivaient  en  bonne  harmonie 
et,  tout  eh  gardant  leur  ind^pendancc  et  leur  originalitd,  con- 
certaient  volontiers  leurs  d-marches  dans  1'inteVet  commun  et 
pour  le  bien  general,  elles  arriveraient  au  plus  haut  degr6  d'autorite, 
et  rapandraient,  ne  fiit-ce  que  par  la  contagion  d'l'example,  les  bicn- 
faits  de  toute  espece  sur  la  genre  humain,  dans  l'ordre  moral 
comme  dans  l'ordre  material.  II  goutait  fort  l'esprit  francais,  il 
en  avait  eu   lui-meme    des    traits  frappants.      II    appr6ciait    nos 

275 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

institutions  et  nos  usages  beaucoup  plus  que  ne  le  font  la  plus  part 
de  ses  compatriotes  auxquelles  il  semble  que,  livre  de  leur  type, 
il  n'y  a  point  de  salut,  de  grandeur,  que,  sais-je,  d'elegance  et  de 
grace,  et  au  gre  duquels  la  tyrannie  et  l'abaissement  de  la  dignite 
humainc  commencent  la  ou  cesse  leur  maniere  de  comprendre 
et  de  pratiquer  la  liberte.  L'egalite  politique  et  sociale  de  la 
France  excitait  son  admiration  ;  en  un  mot,  il  aimerait  la  France. 
II  la  connaissait  bicn,  il  l'avait  etudiee  avec  une  sagacite  et  une 
p6n£tration  qui   n'etaient  pas  les  moindres  de  ses  facult£s." 

But  the  appreciation  of  the  greatness  of  Richard  Cobden  in 
France  was  not  confined  to  the  circle  of  his  private  friends  or  even 
to  his  fellow-workers  in  the  cause  of  Free  Trade  and  Peace. 
When  the  news  of  his  death  came  there  was  evinced  in  every 
public  quarter  a  desire  to  honour  his  memory.  At  the  meeting 
of  the  Corps  Legislatif  next  day  M.  de  Forcade  la  Roquette,  its 
Vice-President,  described  the  event  not  only  as  a  calamity  for 
England  but  as  "a  source  of  mourning  for  France  and  for 
humanity."  The  Emperor  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
Mr.  Charles  Cobden  : — 

"Monsieur,  j'ai  pris  un  grand  part  au  malheur  qui  a  frappe 
votre  famille  ;  car  M.  R.  Cobden  avait  toujours  montre"  pour  la 
France  une  grande  sympathie,  et  son  influence  sur  ses  compatriotes 
ne  pouvaitque  contribuer  a  resserrer  les  liens  qui  unissent  l'Angle- 
terre  et  la  France.  Je  vous  prie  d'etre  aupres  de  sa  veuve  l'inter- 
prete  de  mes  serieux  regrets  et  de  recevoir  l'assurance  de  mes 
sentiments  de  haute  estime." 

Jerome  Napoleon,  who  had  been  closely  associated  with  Cobden 
in  the  Commission  for  the  Exhibition  of  1861,  wrote  in  terms  of 
the  keenest  admiration  and  esteem  to  Mrs.  Cobden,  and  the 
Foreign  Minister  made  an  eloquent  eulogy  in  a  dispatch  to  the 
French  Minister  at  London.  The  P>ench  Press,  both  in  Paris 
and  the  provinces,  contained  a  number  of  striking  testimonies  to 
Cobden's  international  services.  Important  articles  appeared  in 
the  Revue  Contcmporaine,  from  the  pen  of  E.  Lavasseur,  in  the 
Economiste  Fran$ais  by  M.  Jules  Duval,  and  in  many  other  maga- 
zines. The  Political  Economy  Society,  which  in  1846  had  given 
a  banquet  in  honour  of  Cobden's  work  for  Free  Trade,  con- 
secrated to  his  memory  a  special  meeting  on  April  5th,  at  which 
the  President,  M.  Hippolyte  Passy,  MM.  Chevalier,  Joseph 
Gamier,  Foucher  de  Carel,  and  Benard  made  orations  in  honour 

276 


Appendix  to  Chapter  X 

of  a  great  worker  for  humanity.  I  will  quote  the  concluding 
words  of  the  President's  address  :  "  La  vie  de  Cobden  a  c't6  un 
grand  et  tutelaire  enseignement  ;  elle  a  montre"  tout  ce  que  peuvent 
l'energie  du  caractere,  la  rectitude  de  l'esprit,  la  hauteur  du  sens 
moral  dans  les  temps  ou  nous  vivons.  Cobden  a  fait  pour  I'apaise- 
mcnt  des  haines  intermtionales,  pour  l'extinction  des  rivalites 
jalouses  qui  tout  de  fois  out  arm£  les  peuples  contre  les  autres, 
pour  les  inteYetS  fondamentaux  de  l'humanite,  plus  que  n'a  fait 
aucun  homme  d'Etat  auquel  a  appartenu  jusqu'ici  le  gouverne- 
ment  des  nations.  Cobden  n'est  plus,  mais  ses  ceuvres  subsistent 
et  l'avenir  les  respectera  :  car  de  jour  en  jour  en  apparaissent  plus 
distinctement  la  sagesse  et  l'utiliteY' 


2/7 


CHAPTER    XI 

CORRESPONDENCE,    1861-4 

After  his  arduous  labours  at  Paris  were  brought  to 
a  successful  end,  Cobden  spent  the  winter  and  the 
early  spring  of  the  next  year  (1861)  in  a  much- 
needed  holiday  and  rest  at  Algiers,  returning  to 
England  in  the  middle  of  May.  By  that  time  the 
cloud  of  unpopularity  in  which  his  opposition  to  the 
Russian  War  had  surrounded  him  was  entirely  dis- 
sipated, and  business  men  and  politicians  recognized 
the  important  services  which  he  had  rendered  in 
securing  the  Commercial  Treaty  with  France.  A 
large  meeting  at  Rochdale  on  June  26th  proclaimed 
the  enthusiasm  of  commercial  Lancashire,  and  on 
July  17th  the  Freedom  of  the  City  of  London  was 
presented  to  him  at  a  great  gathering  in  the  Mansion 
House.  In  a  speech  vindicating  the  principles  of  the 
treaty  and  reciting  its  advantages,  one  passage  deserves 
quotation  as  illustrating  the  view  persistently  maintained 
by  Cobden  that  the  palpable  gains  of  free  commerce 
must  in  the  nature  of  things  prevail.  "  You  may 
ask  me  whether  I  think  other  nations  will  follow  in 
the  footsteps  of  France  and  England.  I  frankly 
avow  to  you  I  am  not  much  concerned  about  that 
question.  Whatever  England  and  France  unite  •  to 
do,  whether  it  be  a  policy  of  war  or  peace,  they  will 
assuredly  draw  the  whole  civilized  world  within  the 
circle     of    their     influence.      Any    other     nation     which 

278 


Correspondence,    1861  4 

should  attempt  to  hold  aloof  from  the  policy  which 
England  and  France  have  now  frankly  embraced 
would  find  themselves  so  far  behind  in  the  race  for 
civilization  and  wealth  that  their  own  self-love,  if 
no  other  motive  existed,  would  induce  them  to  follow 
the  example  we   have  set." 

From  Algiers  he  kept  up  a  large  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Richard  and  other  friends.  His  early  letters 
to  the  former  were  chiefly  concerned  with  the  strain 
ot  the  Anglo-French  relations,  which,  though  less 
tetise  than  they  had  been,  were  still  serious.  The 
competition  in  armaments  was  at  once  cause  and 
effect  of  the  mutual  ill-feeling  and  suspicions,  each 
side  representing  its  new  preparations  as  a  defensive 
reply  to  some  aggressive  movement  of  the  other.  As 
early  as  February  4,  1861,  we  find  him  proposing  a 
memorial  in  favour  of  a  convention  between  the  two 
Governments  for  the  limitation  of  armaments,  and 
urging  Mr.  Richard  to  look  up  the  question  of  com- 
parative naval  expenditure.  No  sooner  had  he  got 
settled  in  England  again  than  he  began  to  make 
preparations  for  an  argued  statement  of  the  whole 
armament  and  international  issue,  which  took  fuller 
shape  in  the  last  of  his  long  pamphlets,  published  early 
in  the  following  year  under  the  title  of  "  The  Three 
Panics."  This  proved  to  be  an  exceedingly  laborious 
task,  requiring  close  research,  not  only  into  Hansard 
but  into  various  official  and  other  statistical  documents 
extending  over  a  long  period  of  years.  Much  of 
this  detailed  work  was  done  by  Mr.  Richard  and  other 
assistants  whom  he  procured,  and  a  great  many  of 
Cobden's  letters  during  the  period  relate  to  their 
co-operation  in  this  task.  The  armament  question, 
however,  important  as  it  was,  belonged  to  the  wider 
issue  of   a  constructive    policv    of    international    law   tor 

279 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

the  protection  of  commerce  in  time  of  war,  the  nature 
of  which  was  well  set  forth  by  him  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Ashworth  in  the  April  of  the  following 
year  (1862). 

In  1856  the  American  Government,  invited  by  the 
Paris  Congress  to  abandon  privateering,  had  made  the 
important  counter-proposal  to  Europe  to  exempt 
private  property  at  sea  from  capture,  both  by 
privateering  and  armed  Government  ships.  This 
offer  was  well  received  by  France,  Russia  and  other 
maritime  Powers,  but  found  no  encouragement  in 
Great  Britain.  The  American  Government  for  several 
years  pressed  various  proposals  for  reform  of  maritime 
law,  including  one  communicated  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  on  the  very  eve  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  in  which  they  pressed  for  a  revision  of  the  right 
of  blockade,  urging  that  "  the  only  case  in  which  a 
blockade  ought  to  be  permitted  was  when  a  land  army 
was  besieging  a  fortified  place  and  a  fleet  was  em- 
ployed to  blockade  it  on  the  other  side  ;  but  that  any 
attempt  to  intercept  trade  by  blockade,  or  to  blockade 
places  which  were  commercial  ports,  was  an  abuse  of  the 
right  which  ought  not  to  be  permitted."1  Lord  Russell, 
in  reply,  took  the  stand  which  has  been  consistently 
maintained  by  our  Government  and  extended  up  to  the 
present  day,  viz.  "  that  the  system  of  commercial 
blockades  is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  our  naval 
supremacy."  That  argument  Cobden  set  himself  to 
destroy,  by  applying  tests  of  reason  and  experience.  He 
first  dwelt  upon  the  fact  that,  more  than  any  other  great 
nation,  we  are  dependent  not  only  for  prosperity  but  for 
subsistence  upon  large  over-seas  supplies  of  foods  and 
materials.  He  next  pointed  out  how  these  considerations 
practically  compelled  us  to  rebut  our  own  theory  of 
1  "Political  Writings,"  ii.  383. 
280 


Correspondence,    1 861-4 

commercial  blockade,  even  so  far  as  to  permit  by 
licences  the  entrance  of  foods  of  enemy  origin  into 
our  own  ports  during  war-time.  This  occurred  during 
both  the  French  and  the  Russian  wars.  He  then 
proceeded  to  show  how  unjust  and  intolerable  such 
a  blockade  policy  was  for  neutrals,  and  how  inconsistent 
with  the  Free  Trade  policy  to  which  we  were  committed. 
"  Free  Trade,  in  the  widest  definition  of  the  term, 
means  only  the  division  of  labour,  by  which  the  pro- 
ductive powers  of  the  whole  earth  are  brought  into 
mutual  co-operation.  If  this  scheme  of  universal 
dependence  is  to  be  liable  to  sudden  dislocation 
whenever  two  Governments  choose  to  go  to  war,  it 
converts  a  manufacturing  industry,  such  as  ours,  into 
a  lottery,  in  which  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  multitudes 
of  men  are  at  stake."  He  summarizes  the  reforms  that 
are  required  in   three  propositions  : — 

"(1)  The  exemption  of  private  property  from 
capture  at  sea  during  war,  by  armed  vessels  of 
every  kind. 

"  (2)  Blockades  to  be  restricted  to  naval  arsenals, 
and  to  towns  besieged  at  the  same  time  on  land, 
with  the    exception  of   articles    contraband  of   war. 

"(3)  The  merchant  ships  of  neutrals  on  the  high 
seas  to  be  inviolable  to  the  visitation  of  alien 
Government  ships  in  time  of  war  as  in  time  of 
peace.  These  reforms  we  regard  as  the  necessary 
corollary  of  the  repeal  of  the  navigation  laws,  the 
abolition  of  the  corn  laws,  and  the  abandonment 
of  our  colonial   monopoly." 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  between  the  Northern 
and  Southern  States  of  the  American  Union  in  the 
early  summer  of  1 86 1  gave  renewed  importance  to 
these  and  other  related    questions.     The  blockade  came 

28l 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

soon  to  have  a  particular  importance  in  its  bearing 
upon  Lancashire  trade,  and  several  of  Cobden's  letters 
in  the  summer  dwell  upon  that  aspect  of  the  case. 
As  early  as.  July  we  find  him  urging  pressure  on  his 
friend  Charles  Sumner,  Chairman  of  the  Foreign 
Relations  Committee  of  the  Senate,  for  a  recon- 
sideration of   the  blockade  policy. 

As  the  months  passed  by,  the  American  War  came 
to  occupy  an  increasing  part  of  his  attention.  At  first  he 
was  disposed  to  sympathize  with  the  Southern  case, 
partly  on  the  right  of  secession,  partly  also  because 
the  Southerners  were  the  Free  Traders  of  America. 
But,  as  the  slavery  issue  emerged  more  clearly  and 
the  cause  of  the  great  democratic  experiment  for  which 
the  Republic  stood  became  so  plainly  implicated  in  the 
struggle,  partly  also  influenced  by  the  precepts  and 
example  of  his  friend  Bright,  he  soon  definitely  ranged 
himself  upon  the  side  of  the  North.  We  find  him 
in  December  taking  an  active  part  in  the  formation 
of  a  Committee  for  the  foundation  of  an  Arbitration 
Society  and  for  the  application  of  the  principle  to  the 
American   War. 

Before  discussing  the  fuller  part  he  was  drawn  to 
take  in  these  momentous  matters,  it  may  be  well  here 
to  print  some  of  the  1 86 1  letters  to  Mr.  Richard, 
indicative  of  his  labours  in  this  year  and  the  depth  of 
his  thought  and  feelings  as  the  American  conflict 
began   to  open   out. 

"  February  4,  1861. 
"  A  week  ago  I  wrote  to  Mr.  S.  Morley  suggesting 
that  an  Address  to  the  Queen  should  be  signed  in  the 
City  urging  the  desirableness  of  the  Governments  of 
France  and  England  coming  to  some  understanding 
to    limit    their     naval    armaments.      I     recommended    a 

282 


Correspondence,    1861-4 

very  mildly  worded  memorial  which  scarcely  any  person 
could  object  to  sign.  The  main  object  to  be  aimed 
at  is  to  bring  such  a  pressure  of  public  opinion  on  the 
Governments  as  shall  induce  them  to  break  ground  on 
the  disarmament  question.  When  once  they  have 
accepted  the  responsibility  of  the  task  of  trying  to  do 
something,  they  will  be  obliged  to  show  grounds  for 
failure.  This  would  totally  reverse  the  present  attitude 
of  the  parties.  Each  would  have  to  resort  to  facts 
and  figures  to  prove  the  other  in  the  wrong  ;  and  to 
justify  itself  each  would  try  to  parade  its  own  moderation. 
You  will  see  at  once  how  much  the  public  would  gain 
from  such  an  exposure  and  controversy.  1  have  written 
to  Paris  to  sound  a  friend,  a  banker  there,  on  the 
propriety  of  getting  signatures  to  a  similar  memorial 
to  the  Emperor.  But  England  is  so  immeasurably 
superior  in  her  naval  armaments  (we  have  a  personnel  of 
eighty-four  thousand  in  our  service  to  thirty-one  thousand 
in   France)  that  we  ought  to  make  the  first  advance. 

"  In  my  letter  to  Mr.  Morley  I  said  that  it  was  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  the  Address  should  emanate 
from  the  '  bankers,  merchants  and  others  of  the  City,' 
and  not  from  the  Peace  Society  or  the  '  Manchester 
School.'  But  if  he  could  induce  a  few  such  men  as 
Baring,  Rothschild,  Huth,  etc.,  to  lead  off,  your  friends 
in  the  City,  who  are  so  active  and  disinterested,  could 
do  much  afterwards  to  fill   up  the  list. 

"  You  will  recollect  that  there  was  an  Address  to 
the  Emperor  signed  by  the  City  magnates  some  years 
ago.  I  think  Mr.  Hall,  of  Tower  Hill,  took  an  active 
part  in  that  movement.  There  was  also  a  Mr.  Christy 
in  it,  a  rather  excitable  person  living  in  Kent.  It 
requires  energetic  people  to  follow  up  successfully  such 
a  project.  I  rely  on  your  friends,  if  necessary,  giving 
their  hearty  co-operation. 

283 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"There  were  two  quotations  which  we  often  used 
from  the  speeches  of  Lord  Aberdeen  and  Sir  Robert 
Peel.  The  one  from  the  latter  was  to  the  effect  that 
so  great  was  the  danger  from  the  immense  growth  of 
these  standing  armaments  that  he  hoped  the  Govern- 
ment would  put  some  check  to  the  evil,  and  if  not, 
that  the  people  would.  Lord  Aberdeen's  remark  was 
to  the  effect  that  he  doubted  the  truth  of  the  maxim  that 
to  prepare  for  war  was  the  best  way  to  preserve  peace  ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  when  nations  had  made  great 
preparations  for  war  they  were  apt  to  feel  anxious  to 
test  their  efficiency.  How  would  it  do  to  print  these 
extracts  and  distribute  them  in  the  City  ?  Along  with 
the  quotation  from  Sir  R.  Peel  might  be  given  the 
expenditure  for  our  armaments  when  it  was  spoken, 
and  the  amount  spent  now. 

"  Whatever  you  do  will,  I  am  sure,  be  guided  by  your 
never-failing  prudence  and  judgment. 

"  It  strikes  me  that  there  never  was  a  time  when 
there  was  such  a  chance  of  such  an  Address  being 
signed  by  men  of  all  parties  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom 
as  at  present,  when  the  country  is  startled  at  the 
dilemma  in  which  the  backbone  of  our  national  industry 
may  be  placed  at  any  moment  by  events  over  which 
we  have  not  the  slightest  control  in  the  Cotton  Slave 
States  of  America." 

"March  i,  1 86 1. 
"  I  have  had  a  letter  from  Mr.  W.  S.  Lindsay,  M.P., 
who  is,  or  was,  at  Paris  assisting  in  arranging  a  treaty 
of  navigation,  informing  me  that  the  Minister  of 
Marine,  who  has  thrown  open  every  detail  to  him,  has 
convinced  him  that  the  English  Government  and  people 
have  been  acting  under  a  great  delusion  respecting  the 
naval    armaments    of    France.     Chevalier    writes    to    me 

284 


Correspondence,    i  8 6 1  -4 

by  the  same  post  giving  me  the  same  news.  He  acted 
as  interpreter,  and  says  the  Minister  proved  to  L.  that 
all  that  had  been  said  about  the  great  preparations  in 
France  was  'humbug.'  Lindsay  tells  me  that  he  had 
written  a  long  letter  to  Lord  Clarence  Paget,  to  be 
shown  'to  Lord  Palmerston,  in  which  he  urged  the 
former  to  come  to  Paris  for  a  couple  of  days  to 
investigate  the  matter  for  himself,  and  offering  on  the 
part  of  the  Minister  of  Marine  the  most  complete 
explanation  of  every  detail  of  their  naval  armaments. 
Lindsay  told  Lord  C.  P.  that  he  ought  not  to 
take  another  step  in  moving  the  Navy  Estimates 
until  he  had  accepted  this  invitation,  and  he  adds  in 
his  letter  to  me  that  if  the  British  Government  will 
not  take  a  straightforward  course  on  this  question,  he 
will  obtain  the  consent  of  the  French  Government  to 
make  a  full  exposure  in   the  House. 

"  I  am  inclined  to  hope  that  good  will  come  of  this. 
It  will  be  the  first  step  towards  an  understanding  on 
the  subject  of  limiting  the  armaments  of  the  two 
countries — when  one  of  the  Ministers  invites  another 
to  a  conference  of  this  kind.  It  will  not,  however, 
be  an  easy  task  to  retrace  our  steps.  So  many  people 
have  gone  wrong  that  it  will  be  a  severe  test  of  their 
self-love  to  admit  themselves  in  error.  I  have  never 
heard  anything  about  the  memorial  which  I  sent  to 
Mr.   Morley." 

"  ^/n7  7,  1 86 1. 
"  Your  kind  letter  has  followed  me  to  this  place, 
where  I  have  come  in  the  course  of  a  little  excursion 
into  the  province  of  Algiers.  The  country  is  most 
beautiful  and  the  climate  at  this  season  very  delightful. 
There  is  a  great  future  for  the  African  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean    which    two    thousand    years    ago    were 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

covered  with  splendid  cities.  Yesterday  I  visited  a 
little  village  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins  of  an 
ancient  seaport.  It  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  that 
for  several  square  miles  outside  of  the  walls  of  the 
old  city  the  ground  was  so  thickly  covered  with  empty 
stone  coffins  which  had  been  disinterred,  and  the  frag- 
ments of  tombs,  that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  I  could 
thread  my  way  among  them.  But  what  struck  me 
most  in  the  remains  of  this  old  seat  of  commerce  was 
the  enormous  extent  of  remains  of  private  habitations, 
which  presented  themselves  not  only  within  the  old 
walls  but  for  miles  outside  over  the  country,  in  the  form 
of  large  and  well-dressed  stones,  proving  that  the 
population  generally  were  living  in  substantial  buildings. 
When  walking  over  the  ruins  of  Athens,  Alexandria, 
Rome,  etc.,  I  have  often  asked  where  the  people  lived, 
for  whilst  you .  everywhere  see  the  gigantic  remains  of 
temples,  circuses,  and  arches  of  triumph,  you  see  nothing 
to  lead  you  to  suppose  that  the  bulk  of  the  people 
inhabited  such  large  houses  as  those  in  this  neighbour- 
hood. Perhaps  the  reason  may  be  that  this  was  a 
port  and  not  the  seat  of  government.  The  place  to 
which  I  allude  is  called  Tipasa. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  by  your  kindly  think- 
ing of  me.  You  must  not  suppose  that  I  am 
afraid  of  being  brought  into  contact  with  the  Peace 
Society.  I  honour  your  efforts  too  much,  and  have 
too  great  a  mistrust  of  the  motives  of  all  who  decry 
them  to  be  averse  to  exchange  compliments  with  your 
body.  But,  as  you  have  consulted  me,  I  must  candidly 
avow  that  the  greatest  trouble  I  have  on  my  hands  is 
the  meeting  and  replying  to  friendly  demonstrations 
from  public  bodies,  and  you  will  really  oblige  me  by 
not  at  the  present  moment  adding  to  the  number.  On 
my  return  home  I  shall  have  a  battle  to  fight  to  escape 

286 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

from  dinners  and  addresses.  Every  refusal  I  make  to 
these  invitations  adds  to  my  difficulty  and  indeed  to 
the  inconsistency  of  accepting  your  offer.  Let  it  lay 
over  for  the  present. 

"  You  would  have  seen  a  letter  and  enclosure  I  sent 
for  your  perusal  through  Mr.  Morley.  Really,  this 
conduct  on  the  part  of  Lord  Palmerston,  in  stating  so 
broadly  and  repeatedly  facts  which  I  knew  to  be 
groundless  respecting  the  French  armaments,  was  quite 
incomprehensible  until  I  read  his  speech  on  the  Afghan 
dispatches,  which  offers  a  key  to  the  whole  mystery. 
No  doubt  he  will  be  able  to  say  in  a  few  years,  if  he 
should  remain  so  long  on  the  scene,  that  what  he  said 
about  the  French  Navy  was  uttered  merely  to  accomplish 
some  other  good  object.  And  as  this  is  a  principle 
tolerated  and  indeed  approved  by  the  majority  of 
Parliament,  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said  about  it 
— except  that  as  such  ethics  are  not  yet  recognized  in 
Westminster  Hall  or  the  Old  Bailey,  we  may  hope  that 
they  will  not  for  ever  remain  the  standard  of  Par- 
liamentary morality.  But  in  the  meantime  it  must  be 
confessed  we  are  little  better  than  a  nation  of  political 
mountebanks  fairly  led  by  a  pantaloon." 

"  April  17,  1 86 1 . 
"  1  wish  you  would  take  up  the  question  of  the 
French  and  English  navies  as  discussed  in  the  House 
of  late,  with  a  view  to  urge  on  the  public  the  desira- 
bility and  the  practicability  of  now  coming  to  some 
understanding  with  the  French  Government  to  put 
some  limit  on  their  naval  armaments.  This  is  a  most 
excellent  time.  All  parties  agree  that  no  more  wooden 
line-of-battle  ships  are  to  be  built.  Those  in  existence 
will  soon  decay,  and  if  not  replaced  there  will  be  a 
gradual    end    of    this     description    of    ship,  which    was 

287 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

formerly  considered  the  main  test  of  maritime  power. 
As  yet  the  iron-sided  invention  has  not  taken  their 
place.  England  and  France  are  just  beginning  the  race 
of  folly  in  these  novelties,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
it  may  not  grow  quite  as  large  and  costly  as  the  old 
force.  But  America,  Russia,  and  the  other  Powers 
have  not  yet  taken  the  first  step.  Now  then  is  the 
time  for  common  sense  to  interfere.  Let  England  and 
France  only  set  a  limit  to  their  iron-cased  ships,  the 
rest  of  our  gigantic  waste  will  disappear  with  time. 
Urge  this  in  a  letter  or  two  to  the  Star,  in  order  to 
prepare  public  opinion  for  a  movement,  and  if  you 
can  get  up  a  public  meeting  afterwards,  with  Mr.  S. 
Morley  in  the  chair,  and  secure  a  few  speakers  not  of 
the  Peace  Society  to  lead  off,  and  you  to  come  in  at  the 
end,  and  taking  the  precaution  beforehand  to  secure 
such  an  attendance  as  will  fill  the  room  at  the  City  of 
London   Tavern,   it   could   not   fail   to  do  good." 

.  "July  12,  1861. 
"  If  the  American  Civil  War  goes  on,  and  all  the 
ports  of  the  South  remain  blockaded  after  the  new 
cotton  crop  is  ready — a  state  of  things  one  can  hardly 
realize  and  yet  from  which  it  is  difficult  to  see  an 
escape — then  all  parties  will  be  very  sick  of  block- 
ades. As  a  peace  must  come  some  day,  it  has  struck 
me  that  perhaps  it  might  be  made  the  occasion  for 
extending  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  beyond 
the  mere  abolition  of  privateering,  and  including  the 
terms  stipulated  for  by  Mr.  Marcy  and  even  going 
beyond  and  putting  an  end  to  blockades.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  we,  as  the  greatest  manufacturers,  merchants, 
shipowners  and  carriers,  have  the  largest  interest  at 
stake  in  this  question,  and  if  we  were  not  governed  by 
a   feudal  class   which  is  always  looking   to   the   interests 

288 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

of  the  '  services,'  and  which  does  not  like  to  part 
with  the  barbarous  usages  of  war,  we  should  have  been 
the  first  to  agree  to  put  down  the  robbery  of  private 
individuals  at  sea  by  armed  Government  ships,  as  well 
as  to  abolish  blockades. 

"  How  different  would  have  been  the  state  of  feeling 
now  in  Lancashire  if,  instead  of  seeing  the  ports  block- 
aded from  which  the  cotton  comes,  there  had  been  no 
interruption  to  the  trade  of  the  South.  And  this  might 
have  been  the  case  if  the  English  Government  had 
favoured  the  views  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
States.  This  ought  now  to  be  made  known  to  the 
English  public. 

"If  you  are  writing  to  Sumner,  you  might  ask  him 
to  keep  his  eye  on  the  question  of  blockades  in  the 
future  terms  of  pacification.  English  opinion  will  be 
keenly  alive  to  our  national  interest  in  this  question,  as 
apart  from  the  interest  of  the  Admiralty  and  Horse 
Guards,  after  we  have  seen  the  peril  to  our  cotton  trade 
arising  from  the  blockade  of  the  South." 

"  August  17,  1 86 1. 

"  I  had  an  idea  of  writing  a  pamphlet  giving  a  running 
history  of  the  Anglo-French  armaments,  with  extracts 
from  speeches  since  1 844 — when  the  game  of  beggar 
my  neighbour  began.  But  I  don't  know  whether  I 
shall  have  the  courage  to  begin  it.  I  get  discouraged 
as  to  the  effect  of  reason  and  argument  and  facts  in 
deciding  the  policy  of  the  country.  We  are  a  very 
illogical  people,  with  brute  combativeness  which  is 
always  ready  for  a  quarrel  and  which  can  be  excited  at 
the  will  of  a  governing  class  that  has  subsisted  for 
centuries  upon  this  failing  in   John   Bull's  character. 

"  Is  it  not  vain  to  expect  any  honest  attempt  to  put 
a  limit  to  our  expenditure  so  long  as  Palmerston  rules 

289  T 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

and  Gladstone,  whilst  protesting  against  the  waste, 
lends  his  eloquent  genius  to  its  perpetuation  ?  I  am 
convinced  that  we  should  save  three  or  four  millions 
a  year  by  the  return  of  the  Tories  to  office — which  is 
an  event  that  cannot  be  distant.  Palmerston  is  fouling 
the  Whig  nest,  and  preparing  to  hand  over  the  reins 
to  the  Tories. 

"  As  respects  the  Americans,  we  can  do  nothing  but 
wait  the  effect  of  taxation  and  suffering  on  the  com- 
batants. I  am  told  the  Washington  Government  have 
become  more  moderate  in  their  temper  to  Foreign 
Powers  since  the  unhappy  affair  of  Bull's  Run.  It 
remains  to  be  seen  how  the  people  will  relish  the 
new  taxes.  They  have  been  reckoning  on  borrowing 
in  Europe,  in  which  I  suspect  they  will  be  disap- 
pointed. 

"  I  really  don't  see  how  you  can  operate  directly  on 
the  French  question.  Perhaps  the  great  development 
of  trade  that  is  going  on  between  the  two  countries  is 
the  best  peace-maker  that  could  have  been  devised.  I 
still  think  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  the  British 
people  could  be  enlightened  as  to  the  social  and  poli- 
tical state  of  France.  However,  that  project  will  keep. 
Meantime  enjoy  yourself,  and  lay  up  a  stock  of  health 
for  another  campaign." 

"September  n,  1861. 
"  I  hope  there  is  no  truth  in  the  rumour  that  our 
Government  will  acknowledge  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
I  have  great  faith  in  their  stupidity  and  ignorance,  and 
still  more  in  their  false  and  selfish  predilections  in  all 
cases  where  liberty  and  the  true  interests  of  the 
millions  are  concerned,  but  can  hardly  believe  them 
bad  enough  for  this." 


290 


Correspondence,    186 

41  October   i  6,    I  86 1. 

"I  am  still  busy  reading  back  in  Hansard  and  other 
repositories  the  sayings  of  our  alarmists.  It  is  a  curious 
history.  It  shows  what  a  monomaniac  or  an  interested 
partisan  endowed  with  obstinacy  can  do,  to  run  over 
the  career  of  Napier  in  this  line  ;  how  his  laughable 
exaggerations  and  absurdity  of  this  year  got  a  somewhat 
willing  hearing  the  year  after,  and  became  the  policy  of 
the  Government  the  third  year.  In  fact,  our  armaments 
have  been  really  dictated  by  such  people  as  old  Attwood, 
who  chooses  to  go  mad  with  Urquhart  about  Russia, 
and  as  Napier  or  Horsman,  whose  judgments  would 
have  been  utterly  repudiated  by  sensible  men  on  a  matter 
of  private  business.  These  men  have  created  a  sort  of 
senseless  panic  which  has  been  taken  advantage  of  by  the 
governing  class.  I  have  just  got  from  Paris  an  account 
of  the  yearly  expenditure  for  the  French  Navy,  and  of 
the  number  of  men  borne  in  their  navy  each  year,  from 
1835  to  the  present  time.  Nothing  can  be  more  clear 
than  that  the  whole  charge  against  the  present  Govern- 
ment of  having  surpassed  their  predecessors  in  their  naval 
preparations  is  groundless.  It  is  a  fact  that  during  the 
whole  twenty-five  years  our  Navy  was  never  so  dis- 
proportionately large,  as  compared  with  that  of  France, 
as  in  i860,  when  Palmerston  raised  the  crv  of  alarm  and 
brought  forward  his  project  for  fortifications.  I  have 
written  to  Gladstone  to  this  effect.  He  has  nothing  to 
say  to  contradict,  and  yet,  sad  to  say,  he  continues 
to  minister  to  such  a  state  of  affairs  !  There  ought, 
in  the  interest  of  conscientious  men,  to  be  another  verse 
added  to  our  Litany,  and  in  addition  to  praying  the  good 
Lord  to  deliver  us  from  c  battle  and  murder  and  sudden 
death  '  we  ought  to  pray  to  be  preserved  from  the 
temptations  of  the  post  of  a  Cabinet   Minister." 

291 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"  October  19,  1861. 
"  It  is  quite  evident  that  I  must  publish  my  pamphlet 
with  a  retrospect  of  our  panics  and  follies  for  the  last 
twenty  years.  Looking  to  Collier's  speech  at  Plymouth, 
and  other  similar  performances,  it  is  quite  evident  that 
there  is  to  be  another  '  revival '  of  the  invasion  mania 
this  autumn.  We  were  told  that  the  volunteers  would 
set  this  topic  to  rest.  But  the  ghost  is  not  laid.  How 
are  we  to  account  for  this  inveterate  propensity  to  be 
deluded  and  excited  about  an  imaginary  foe  ?  Is  it  the 
inordinate  pugnacity  of  our  people  ?  It  really  amounts 
to  a  disease  or  a  mania.  I  doubt  sometimes  whether 
a  war  is  not  the  only  sedative  that  can  cure  it." 

"October  26,  1861. 
"A  few  days  ago  I  sent  the  accompanying  'Memo- 
randum '  to  Lord  Palmerston  with  a  request  that  he 
will  bring  it  under  the  notice  of  the  members  of  his 
Cabinet.  I  have  forwarded  a  translation  to  M.  de 
Persigny,  begging  him  to  bring  it  under  the  notice 
of  the  Emperor.  I  send  it  confidentially  for  your 
perusal.  It  is  only  fair  that  it  should  in  the  first  place 
be  kept  a  secret.  If  nothing  be  done,  I  will  publish  it 
before  Parliament  meets.  I  have  had  no  answer  from 
P.  He  would  like  to  put  it  in  the  fire  or  give  it  to 
the  volunteers  to  light  their  pipes  with  it.  But  Disraeli's 
speech,  the  coming  collapse  of  trade,  and  the  resolution 
come  to  at  the  close  of  the  Session  to  stop  the  line-of- 
battle  ships,  give  a  little  practical  weight  to  it  at  this 
moment.    Still,  I  don't  expect  anything  to  come  from  it." 

"December  7,   1861. 
"  I  have  written  very  strongly  to  Sumner  urging  the 
Government  at  Washington   to  take  old  General  Scott's 
hint,  and  go  further — to  propose  to  raise  the    blockade 

292 


Correspondence,    1861-4 

on  condition  that  the  system  of  blockades  and  all  the 
rest  of  the  belligerent  rights  be  abandoned  by  Europe. 
Whether  this  can  be  done  I  know  not.  But  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  indefinite  maintenance  of  the  blockade, 
with  little  or  no  progress  in  the  Civil  War  on  the  side 
of  the  North,  will  lead  to  an  intervention  of  some  sort 
in  the  coming  year.  I  have  written  to  the  same  effect  to 
General  Scott." 

"December  8,    1861. 

"  It  is  enough  to  make  one  forswear  one's  kind,  let 
his  beard  grow,  and  retire  to  a  cave,  to  witness  the 
sudden  madness  that  can  seize  so  many  people  !  I 
remember  when  I  was  at  the  Peace  Congress  meeting 
at  Edinburgh,  in  the  winter  of  1863,  saying  in  my 
speech  that  if  a  person  had  left  England  for  a  voyage 
round  the  globe  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  he  would 
have  left  the  public  just  apparently  worked  up  in  a  frenzy 
which  rendered  a  war  with  France  inevitable.  And  on 
his  return  to  England,  if  he  had  not  seen  a  newspaper 
in  his  absence,  he  would  have  been  startled  to  find  the 
French'  and  English  fleets  broadside  to  each  other  in 
Besika  Bay,  but  instead  of  the  collision  which  he  would 
expect  to  witness  he  would  have  been  still  more  amazed 
to  learn  that  the  two  countries  were  going  to  fight  as 
allies  against   Russia. 

"  So  now,  before  I  can  put  my  extracts  together  to 
show  up  the  frenzy  again  with  France,  here  we  are 
for  rushing  into  war  with  America,  totally  forgetting  all 
that  we  were  saying  a  few  months  since  of  the  danger 
from  France. 

"  '  A   mad   world,   my   masters  !  '  " 

"  December    II,    1S61. 
11  Don't  let  the  conduct  of  this  incorrigible  old  dodger 
annoy  you.    It  is  exactly  what  I  expected.   This  American 

293 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

affair  might  seem  to  be  playing  his  cards  for  him  beauti- 
fully. But  I  am  not  sure  he  will  not  over-play  his  game. 
There  will  be  no  war  on  this  legal  question.  Make 
yourself  quite  easy  on  the  point.  The  object  of  all  this 
bustle  is  to  justify  the  maintenance  of  the  present 
expenditure.  But  we  will  try  to  spoil  the  game.  What 
a  case  these  men  who  now  clamour  for  war  against 
America  give  us  against   their   outcry  against    France  !  ' 

"December   18,    1861. 

"  By  all  means  make  any  use  you  please  of  my  name  on 
the  Committee  for  Arbitration. 

"  Though  the  object  should  be  at  present  to  urge 
arbitration  in  the  American  difficulty,  yet  I  think  it 
would  be  well  to  form  a  permanent  Society  for  the  sole 
object  of  applying  the  resolution  of  the  Paris  Congress 
in  favour  of  arbitration  to  all  cases  of  misunderstanding 
as  they  may  arise.  There  should  be  an  advertisement 
and  an  invitation  to  co-operate  as  soon  as  possible,  to  give 
people  an  opportunity  of  combining  their  movements. 

11  I  received  the  enclosed  discouraging  note  from 
Baines,  and  have  written  to  encourage  him.  It  is  de- 
plorable to  see  how  the  rich  and  influential  people  must 
always  be  led  by  the  poor  and  illiterate.  From  the 
time  of  the  Apostles  it  has  always  been  so.  I  advise 
Baines  to  let  a  meeting  of  working  men  be  called. 

"  1  am  writing  to  Brighton  to  advise  them  there  to 
form  a  permanent  committee  after  the  meeting. 

"  The  Unitarian  leaders  in  Leeds  never  can  be  got 
into  action.  Directlv  there  is  anything  to  do  they  begin 
hair-splitting." 

"  December  18,    1861. 

"  The  accounts  I  get  are  very  warlike,  and  yet  I  cannot 
believe  in  war.  But  would  it  not  be  well  to  turn  all 
your  efforts  to  an   agitation   in   favour  of  arbitration  ? 

294 


Correspondence,    1861-4 

"  Bright  says  he  is  sure  that  there  is  no  town  where 
a  public  meeting  would  not  vote  for  arbitration,  and 
I  dare  say  he  is  right.  No  time  should  be  lost.  The 
clubs  and  cliques  about  Pall  Mall  are  very  warlike.  It 
is  desirable  that  if  there  be  more  sense  in  the  country  it 
should  display  itself." 

•  •  •  •  • 

The  shock  of  the  American  Civil  War  continued  to 
be  the  great  disturbing  factor  in  European  politics.  Its 
economic  influence  was  chiefly  due  to  the  blockade  of  the 
Southern  ports,  which  cut  off  the  cotton  supplies  of 
Lancashire  and  brought  unemployment  and  poverty  to 
its  inhabitants.  But  two  naval  incidents  caused  intense 
political  feeling  and  came  near  to  causing  a  severance  of 
pacific  relations  between  the  British  and  American  Govern- 
ments. The  first  was  the  affair  of  the  Trent.  Two 
Commissioners,  Mason  and  Slidell,  despatched  to  Paris 
and  London  by  the  Southern  Confederacy,  were  seized 
on  November  8,  1861,  by  a  federal  warship  when  on 
board  a  British  mail-boat  sailing  for  Havana,  and  were 
taken  away  as  prisoners.  The  British  Government  imme- 
diately demanded  their  release  and  an  apology,  and  before 
an  answer  was  possible  ordered  a  brigade  of  Guards  to 
Canada.  This  impetuous  action  brought  us  to  the  brink 
of  war,  only  averted  by  the  interposition  of  the  Queen 
and  the  Prince  Consort,  who  got  Palmerston  to  accept 
as  an  adequate  redress  the  release  of  the  prisoners  and  a 
statement  from  the  United  States  Minister  in  London 
to  the  effect  that  the  action  of  Captain  Wilkes  in  seizing 
the  Commissioners  was  without  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  Government.     So   the  trouble   blew  over. 

In  June  another  untoward  incident  took  place,  the 
blame  of  which  fell  upon  our  Government — the  sailing 
from  Liverpool  of  the  Alabama,  a  vessel  built  at  Birken- 
head for  the  Confederate  Government.      The  reply  of  our 

295 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

Government,  that  due  vigilance  had  been  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  escape  of  the  Alabama  as  soon  as  her  true 
character  was  known,  was  not  accepted  as  satisfactory  by 
the  American  Government,  and  was  not  in  fact  true,  as 
later  evidence  showed.  For  the  next  two  years  the 
vessel,  largely  manned  by  British  sailors,  played  havoc 
with  Federal  trade,  and  the  tension  caused  by  the  refusal 
of  the  demand  for  compensation  made  towards  the  close 
of  1 86 1  by  the  American  Government  lasted  for  several 
years  and  threatened  more  than  ever  to  lead  us  into  war. 

In  another  part  of  the  American  Continent  we  were 
also  for  a  time  embroiled  in  serious  trouble.  The  civil 
war  which  broke  out  in  Mexico  in  1 86 1  had  brought 
in  the  Governments  of  France,  Spain  and-  England, 
which  despatched  a  joint  expedition  for  the  protection 
of  their  subjects  and  the  enforcement  of  the  payment 
of  bonds  held  by  their  subjects.  England  and  Spain 
withdrew  from  the  expedition  in  May  1862,  having 
obtained  satisfaction  from  President  Juarez,  but  France, 
having  ulterior  imperialistic  objects,  persisted,  and  em- 
barked upon  the  scheme  of  conquest  which  ended  a  ftw 
years  later  with  the  execution  of  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian, the  French  nominee  to  the  throne.  The  United 
States,  absorbed  in  their  domestic  trouble,  refused  all  part 
in  the  Mexican  imbroglio,  but  the  intrusion  of  European 
forces  upon  their  Continent,  in  violation  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  served  to  exasperate  their  people  against  the 
European  Governments. 

Cobden's  view  of  this  enterprise  is  conveyed  in  the 
following  passage  from  a  letter  of  October  1863  to 
M.   Aries  Dufour  :— 

"  Park  Hill,  Streatham,  October  23,  1863. 
"  The  world's  affairs  seem  to  be  getting  into  a  con- 
siderable confusion.     Shakespeare  somewhere  says,  •  The 

296 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

world  is  out  of  joint,  oh  cruel  9pite  !  That  ever  I  was 
born  to  put  it  right.'  Now  there  seem  to  be  many  busy 
people  who  are  eager,  without  being  born  to  it,  to  engage 
in  the  task  of  putting  the  world  to  rights.  There  is 
our  little  Foreign  Minister  with  his  pen,  and  your 
ruler  with  his  sword.  And  yet  they  do  not  seem  to 
meet  with  very  encouraging  success.  What  could  have 
possessed  your  Emperor  when  he  engaged  in  the  task 
of  resuscitating  Mexico?  'The  Latin  Race'!  Why, 
the  majority  of  Mexicans  are  half-breeds — a  mixture  of 
negroes,  red  Indians,  and  Spaniards.  I  remember  return- 
ing from  New  York  to  England,  having  for  my  com- 
panions in  1835  two  very  intelligent  men,  one  a  Swiss, 
the  other  a  Scotchman,  who  had  been  living  seven  years 
in  the  interior  of  Mexico  purchasing  cochineal.  Their 
description  of  the  state  of  ignorance,  of  demoralization, 
and  utter  extinction  of  moral  sense  in  that  country 
was  most  appalling,  and  they  wound  up  their  narra- 
tive of  the  character  of  the  people  by  the  observation, 
'  We  have  been  living  seven  years  in  a  community 
where  there  is  not  one  human  virtue  extant.'  Why 
should  your  Government,  or  any  Government  not 
responsible  for  this  state  of  the  Mexican  people,  take 
on  themselves  the  responsibility  of  redeeming  them 
from  their  degradation  ?  That  is  surely  the  work  of 
the  Almighty,  and  not  of  your  Zouaves.  When  Prince 
Napoleon  was  in  England  last  year  I  told  him  that  people 
in  England  were  comparing  the  expedition  to  Mexico 
to  the  invitation  of  Spain  from  Bayonne  by  his  uncle. 
"  Depend  on  it,  we  shall  not  take  a  part  in  a  war  against 
Russia  for  Poland.  All  classes  are  opposed  to  it.  There 
is  a  very  serious  obstacle  to  our  going  to  war  which  may 
not  have  occurred  to  many  people  yet,  but  which  would 
have  come  home  to  us  all  if  a  war  with  Russia  were 
imminent.      We    have    to    face    the  certainty   of   having 

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Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

ships  fitted  out  by  the  Americans  to  prey  on  our  com- 
merce in  retaliation  for  our  Alabamas.  The  Americans 
are  waiting  to  offer  their  services  to  any  country  with 
which  we  shall  be  at  war." 

This  diversion  of  political  interest  to  Mexican  affairs 
to  some  extent  cut  across  Cobden's  intention  of  mobiliz- 
ing his  political  and  intellectual  forces  for  a  general 
assault  upon  Palmerston's  European  policy.  His  im- 
portant pamphlet  "  The  Three  Panics  "  was  near  comple- 
tion at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  but  he  hesitated  to 
launch  it  upon  the  public  in  the  critical  situation  which 
the  Trent  affair  brought  about.  Eventually  he  decided 
in  favour  of  publication,  and  it  appeared  towards  the 
close  of  April.  A  detailed  and  closely  documented 
narrative  of  the  panics  which  had  seized  both  Govern- 
ments and  people  in  1848,  1853  and  1862,  it  was  his 
fullest  formal  indictment  of  the  statesman  whom  he 
regarded  as  the  most  dangerous  rogue  of  the  age. 
Cobden  was  a  good  deal  disappointed  with  its  early 
reception.  In  truth,  its  very  virtue  of  thoroughness 
repelled  many  minds  which  most  needed  its  instructive 
revelation.  Nevertheless  it  performed  a  serviceable  work 
in  preparing  English  Liberalism  for  the  return  to  sanity 
which  followed  the  disappearance  of  Lord  Palmerston 
and  ushered  in  the  temperate  epoch  of  Gladstone  and 
Bright. 

But  his  immediate  political  energy  was  by  no  means 
exhausted  by  the  production  of  "  The  Three  Panics  "  and 
the  perpetual  controversy  against  the  competition  with 
France  in  armaments,  which  he  waged  with  unusual 
vigour  this  year  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  im- 
provement of  International  Law  in  relation  to  sea 
commerce  during  war  had  taken  strong  root  in  his 
mind    some    years    before,   as    one  of   the  essential  safe- 

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Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

guards  of  civilization.  The  events  of  the  American  War 
gave  special  urgency  to  this  reform.  In  letters  to  the 
Press  and  to  political  friends  he  is  tireless  in  pursuance 
of  his  educative  work,  blocked  in  the  House  by  the 
obstinate  fallacy  that  we,  as  the  possessors  of  the  most 
powerful  navy,  are  gainers  by  maintaining  the  full 
belligerent  rights  stretched  to  the  widest  limits  which 
precedent  can  yield.  There  are  many  references  to  the 
subject  in  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Richard.  But 
as  a  prefatory  note  I  will  print  portions  of  two  other 
letters  of   this  year,  already  published   in   the  "  Life."  ' 

To    M.    Chevalier. 

"  August  7,  1862. 

"  Our  Government,  as  you  know,  is  constantly  declaring 

that    we    have    the    greatest   interest   in    maintaining   the 

old  system  of  belligerent  rights.      Lord   Russell  considers 

that  we  must  possess  the  right  of   blockade   as   a   most 

valuable  privilege  for  ourselves  on  some  future  occasion, 

and  you  will  see  that  almost  the  very  last  words  uttered 

by   Lord   Palmerston   at   the   close   of   the   Session   were 

to  assert  the  great   interest  England   had  in  maintaining 

these  old   belligerent   rights.      In   fact,   we  are  governed 

by  men  whose  ideas  have  made  no  progress  since  1808 — 

nay,  they  cling  to  the  ideas  of  the  Middle  Ages." 

"  October  25,  1862. 
"  England  cannot  take  a  step  with  decency  or  con- 
sistency, to  put  an  end  to  the  blockade,  until  our 
Government  is  prepared  to  give  us  their  adhesion  to 
the  principle  of  the  abolition  of  commercial  blockades 
for  the  future.  This  our  antiquated  Palmerstons  and 
Russells  are  not  prepared  to  do.  They  have  a  sincere 
faith     in     the    efficacy    of    commercial     blockades    as    a 

1    Vol.  ii.  pp.  400-2 . 
299 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

belligerent  weapon  against  our  enemies.  They  are 
ignorant  that  it  is  a  two-edged  sword,  which  cuts  the 
hand  that  wields  it — when  that  hand  is  England's — 
more  than  the  object  which  it  strikes.  Lords  Palmerston 
and  Russell  feel  bound  to  acquiesce  in  the  blockade,  and 
even  to  find  excuses  for  it,  because  they  wish  to  preserve 
the  right  for  us  of  blockading  some  other  Power. 

11  I  am  against  any  act  of  violence  to  put  an  end  to  the 
war.  We  shall  not  thereby  obtain  cotton,  nor  should 
we  coerce  the  North.  We  should  only  intensify  the 
animosity  between  the  two  sections.  But  I  should  be 
glad  to  see  an  appeal  made  by  all  Europe  to  the  North 
to  put  an  end  to  the  blockade  of  the  South  against 
legitimate  commerce,  on  the  ground  of  humanity,  accom- 
panied with  the  offer  of  making  the  abolition  of  com- 
mercial blockades  the  principle  of  International  Law  for 
the  future.  But  this,  I  repeat,  our  Government  will  not 
agree  to  at  present.  We  have  a  battle  to  fight  against 
our  own  ruling  class  in  England  to  accomplish  that 
reform.  I  am  by  no  means  so  sure  as  Gladstone  that 
the  South  will  ever  be  a  nation.  It  depends  on  the  '  Great 
West.'  If  Ohio,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa, 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  sustain  the  President's  anti- 
slavery  proclamation,  there  will  be  no  peace  which  will 
leave  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  hands  of  an 
independent   Power." 

To   Mr.    Richard. 

"  January  30,  1862. 
4<  We  will  talk    over  the  subject  of  the  '  Arbitration 
Committee  '  when  we  meet.      I  shall  be  in  Town  at   the 
opening  of  the  Session. 

"  I  have  got  nearly  to  the  end  of  my  pamphlet  ;  but 
now  what  is  to  be  done  with  it  ?  Before  I  had  time 
to  finish  the  story   of  the  last  invasion   panic,    here    we 

300 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

are  led  on  by  The  Times  and  Saturday  Review  for  a 
war  in  the  other  hemisphere!  It  is  just  the  same  tale 
over  again  as  in  1852-3,  when  we  were  caught  with 
the  Russian  War  in  the  midst  of  the  second  panic.  I 
had  better  perhaps  keep  the  MS.  until  we  see  what 
course  the  American  question  takes.  If  we  get  thick 
into  that — which  I  suppose  will  be  Palmerston's  game 
to  divert  attention  from  other  matters — nobody  would 
read  anything  about  the  French  panics — what  say  you  ? ' 

"  February  2,  1862. 

11  I  think  your  Society  wrong.  With  a  French  army 
ravaging  Mexico,  without  a  shadow  of  justification, 
and  indeed  in  violation  of  the  professed  purpose  for 
which,  in  conjunction  with  Spain  and  England, 
the  expedition  was  undertaken,  and  with  an  army 
occupying  Rome  in  violation  of  all  principles  of  self- 
government,  you  are  surely  not  justified  in  assuming 
the  French  Government  to  have  any  objects  in  common 
with  your  Society.  Unless  you  go  to  condemn  or 
protest  against  these  acts,  you  are  surely  open  to  the 
charge  of  condoning  them — in  making  a  display  of 
confidence  in  their  author.  I  intreat  you  not,  at  all 
events,  to  send  a  deputation. 

"  I  still  adhere  to  the  opinion  that  our  Government 
will  not  commit  us  to  a  war  about  Schleswig — I  have 
reason  to  know  that  they  are  fully  alive  at  headquarters 
to  the  danger  of  exposing  our  commerce  to  reprisals 
from  Yankee  '  Lairds,'  if  we  become  belligerents  with 
any  other  Power.  After  the  fatal  example  we  have 
afforded  to  the  tremendous  amount  of  injury  which 
half  a  dozen  swift  steamers  can  inflict  upon  a  whole 
mercantile  marine,  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  ever  go 
to  war  again  unless  in  defence  of  our  own  shores.  We 
must  give  up   the  '  Balance  of  Power  '  for  the  future  ' 

301 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

'■'■February  2,  1862. 

"  I  return  the  Bond  with  thanks.  The  explanation 
you  give  of  the  object  of  the  intervention  alters  the 
view  of  the  question  as  respects  the  rights  and  duty  of 
the  Government  to  interfere.  If  our  bondholders  have 
been  robbed  of  money  in  transition  by  what  is  called 
a  Government  we  certainly  have  a  right  to  redress,  if 
it  can  be  had. 

"  I  agree  with  you  in  every  word  you  say  about  the 
motives  for  publishing  my  pamphlet.  It  is  just  brought 
to  an  end.  You  never  saw  such  an  exposure,  and  old 
P.  the  radiant  figure  for  twenty  years  !  But  then  I 
shall  be  just  the  same  Ishmaelite  I  was  after  the  Free 
Trade  victory  in  1847.  Then  I  might  have  set  up  for 
a  genteel  politician,  and  everybody  was  disposed  to 
tolerate  me. 

"  Now  I  am  in  the  same  position  after  the  treaty. 
Everybody  again  is  tending  to  tolerance  and  favour. 
But  when  this  pamphlet  comes  out — how  I  shall  be 
baited  in  the  House  and  the  Press  !  However,  I  have 
the  rogues  on  the  hip,  and  there  is  not  one  of  the 
chief  offenders  —  Pam,  Pakington,  Clarence  Paget, 
Horsman,  etc.,  that  I  cannot  fire  a  reserve  shot  into  if 
they  open  on  me  in  the  House.  I  only  keep  the  MS. 
until  I  go  to  Town  and  see  that  at  the  opening  of 
the  Session  there  is  no  American  event  to  stun  the  public 
ear.  It  is  to  be  translated  and  brought  out  in  Paris 
at  the  same  time.  How  had  I  better  manage  for  print- 
ing and  publishing   it   in   London  ?  " 

"  Wednesday,  February. 
"  I  will  certainly  say  something  outside  the  programme 
of  the  factions,  but  whether  it  should  be  an  attack  on 
the  old  and  ghastly  phantom  of  the  Balance  of  Power, 

302 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

or  an  argument  for  pure  and  simple  non-intervention 
remains  to  be  seen.  I  should  like  a  little  conversation 
with  you  on  this  very  point.  It  is  an  unpopular  part 
to  take,  but  I  am  inclined  to  show  up  that  spirit  of 
braggadocio  in  the  Press  and  in  higher  places  which 
threatens  and  blusters  without  measuring  our  powers 
to  fulfil  our  menaces,  or  rather  our  impotency  to  do 
so,  and  which  spirit  is  really  accountable  for  what  those 
same   parties    call    our    present    humiliation." 

"April  1 6,  1862. 

"  The  founders  of  your  Society  ought  to  have  added 
a  serpent  to  their  device  of  a  dove.  The  wisdom  of 
the  one  is  as  necessary  in  this  world,  even  in  good 
works,  as  the  innocence  of  the  other.  I  think  you 
have  relied  too  much  on  your  harmlessness. 

"  I  would  say  nothing  about  '  peace '  or  '  war  '  and 
I  would  put  the  International  Law  first.  And  I  would 
in  defining  the  objects  keep  as  much  as  possible  to  a  dry 
formula  and  not  prejudge  the  matter  with  epithets. 
I  don't  say  that  mine  may  not  be  mended,  but  I 
would  have  it  as  dry  and  unlike  a  Peace  Society 
programme    as    possible." 

"  April  1 8,  1862. 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  discourage  you,  and  you  mistake 
me  if  you  suppose  I  meant  to  say  you  should  do  nothing. 
What  I  meant  was  that  you  should  approach  your  work 
strategically. 

"  Some  of  the  best  services  you  have  rendered  to  the 
cause  of  Peace  have  been  through  the  instrumentality 
of  men  who  did  not  start  from  your  point  of  view 
or  even  perhaps  seek  your  objects.  Such,  for  instance, 
was  the  case  with  Lord  Clarendon,  whom  you  and  Sturge 
incited     to    move    in    the    arbitration    clause,    and    such 

303 


Richard  Cobden  :    The  International  Man 

was  the  case  when  you  disinterred  the  resolution  of 
the  Paris  Congress  during  the  French  affair  and  got 
the  religious  bodies  to  take  up  that  ground.  I  have 
sometimes  regretted  that  the  Americans  did  not  hang 
fire  a  little  and  propose  arbitration,  that  we  might 
have  had  an  agitation  in  favour  of  that  mode  of  settling 
the  Trent  affair. 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  talk  the  matter  over  when  I 
return  to  Town.  Such  men  as  Chevalier  will  come  at 
the  opening  of  the  Exhibition  and  remain  some  time  ; 
others  will  come  later.  We  had  better  discuss  the 
subject  with  such  men  as  he — in  which  direction  alone 
we  can   hope  to  enlarge  our  circle." 

"  April  26,  1862. 
"  I  am  not  surprised  that  the  papers  hang  fire  in 
noticing  the  pamphlet.  The  facts  can't  be  refuted,  and 
to  acknowledge  them  is  in  general  an  act  of  self- 
condemnation  with  our  writers  and  politicians.  When 
you  come  to  look  back  over  the  last  twelve  years, 
what  a  contemptible  clique  of  eccentricities  that  party 
has  been  which  did  not  give  way  at  any  time  to  these 
war  maniacs !  How  can  you  expect  ninety-nine  one- 
hundredths  now  to  confess  that  the  1  per  cent,  alone 
have  kept  their  senses  ?  We  Peace  men  must  moderate 
our  triumph  ;  it  will  only  endure  through  a  period  of 
commercial  depression.  If  there  had  been  no  Civil 
War  in  America,  and  the  French  treaty  had  come 
at  the  top  on  the  great  flood-tide  of  prosperity,  we 
should  have  now  been  more  bumptious  than  ever  and 
the  fortifications  would  have  gone  on." 

"  May  26,  1862. 
"  There  is    an   apparent  intention  on  the  part  of   the 
Opposition  to  play  the  game  of  economy  and  retrench- 

304 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

ment.  The  one  great  indispensable  and  desirable 
preliminary  step  to  any  diminution  of  the  armaments 
is  to  get  rid  of  the  present  Prime  Minister.  But  this 
is  very  difficult,  for  the  Tories  prefer  him  to  their 
own  leader — a  precious  illustration  of  the  way  in  which 
the  so-called  Liberal  Party  allow  themselves  to  be 
befooled  ! 

"  Have  you  been  paying  any  attention  to  the  pro- 
ceedings in  China?  There  is  a  small  Blue  book  lately 
presented  containing,  among  other  despatches,  one  from 
Lord  Russell  authorizing  the  naval  commanders  to 
defend  the  Treaty  Ports,  which  I  think  opens  the  doors 
to  a  war  in  all  parts  of  China.  I  have  lately  been  in 
the  way  of  conversing  with  Baron  Gros  and  Mr.  Ward, 
the  American  and  French  plenipotentiaries,  and  they 
seem  to  be  of  one  opinion  as  to  the  impolicy  of  our 
proceedings,  to  say  nothing  of  their  injustice.  Mr. 
Ward  says  we  shall  have  to  take  the  whole  country 
on  our  hands,  like  India.  It  is  just  possible  that  we 
may  bring  on  ourselves  a  retribution  from  the  East  by 
our  persistent  course  of  violence  and  injustice ;  and 
God  help  us  if  it  is  to  be  commensurate  with  our 
deserts  !  " 

"July  15,  1862. 

"  I  really  think  the  old  sinner  has  got  rather  the  worst 
of  the  last  week's  contest.  But  I  hope  for  other 
occasions  before  the  Session  closes  for  putting  a  mark 
on  him  by  which  the  Liberals  may  know  him  better. 
It  is  desirable  that  he  should  be  labelled  with  his  true 
character,  so  as  to  prevent  him  as  much  as  possible 
from  playing  the  successful  demagogue  during  the 
recess. 

"  By  all  means  try  to  raise  a  protest  against  this 
China  business.      We  are   plunging-  into  a  sea  of   blood 

305  U 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

and  guilt  there  for  which  we  may  bring  down  on 
ourselves  a  fatal  retribution.  It  is,  I  fear,  too  late  to 
arrest  the  mad  career  of  our  Government.  But  it  is 
not  too  late  to  protest." 

"  September  15,  1862. 

"  I  have  been  some  weeks  among  the  mountains  of 
Scotland,  and  have  derived  great  advantage  to  my 
health.  Indeed,  one  must  be  very  unreasonable  not  to 
improve  under  the  influence  of  pure  air,  mountain 
scenery,  and  kind  welcome  from  friends.  1  hope  you 
have  taken  your   usual  tour  to  Wales. 

"  I  try  to  forget  politics  and  Palmerston  during  my 
holiday,  and  rarely  see  the  London  Press.  But  the 
bloody  telegrams  from  America  meet  my  eye  in  the 
local  penny  papers,  and  haunt  me  everywhere.  The 
future  of  that  horrible  contest  seems  to  me  more 
shrouded  in  gloom  every  day.  It  appears  to  be  more 
than  ever  probable  that  it  will  end  in  the  North  halt 
ruining  itself  in  the  process  of  wholly  ruining  the 
South,  rather  than  agree  to  allow  another  independent 
State  to  be  established  on  the  American  Continent." 

"  October  15,  1862. 

11  I  made  up  my  mind  during  the  Crimean  War  that 
if  ever  I  lived  in  the  time  of  another  great  war  of  a 
similar  kind,  between  England  and  another  Power,  I 
would  not  as  a  public  man  open  my  mouth  on  the 
subject,  so  convinced  am  I  that  appeals  to  reason,  con- 
science or  interest,  have  no  force  whatever  on  parties 
engaged  in  war,  and  that  exhaustion  on  one  or  both 
sides  can  alone  bring  a  contest  of  physical  force  to 
an  end.  Such  being  my  view  with  regard  to  a  war 
in  which  our  own  country  is  engaged,  it  is  still  more 
strongly    applicable  to    the    case    of  a    foreign   country 

306 


Correspondence,    1861-4 

Unless  compelled  incidentally  to  allude  to  it,  I  shall 
not  say  a  syllable  in  public  upon  the  subject  of  this 
horrible  American  War.  I  need  hardly  add  that  I 
would  walk  barefoot  to  the  end  of  the  earth  if  by 
so  doing  I  could  put  an  end  to  the  sanguinary 
struggle.  I  am  as  much  as  ever  in  the  dark  as  to 
the  prospects  of  the  contending  parties.  But  it  still 
seems  to  me  that  if  the  North  choose  to  endure  the 
burden  of  the  war,  it  can  ruin  the  South  by  only  half 
ruining  itself.  It  is  a  question  of  endurance  and  of  time. 
"  I  am  not  likely  to  be  in  London  before  the  close 
of  the  Exhibition,  and  therefore  shall  not  be  able  to 
take  a  part  in  any  demonstration  in  favour  of  peace. 
But  if  a  declaration  in  favour  of  reduction  of  arma- 
ments could  be  made  under  the  auspices  of  new  men 
it  would  be  a  good  step." 

"December  5,  1862. 
"  Be  assured  that  if  I  can  help  to  shelve  this  old 
dodger  I  shall  do  it  as  an  act  of  piety  to  Heaven  and 
of  chanty  to  man — for  he  is  the  evil  genius  of  our 
generation.  He  has  hitherto  had  such  a  run  of  luck 
that  it  has  not  been  easy  to  try  to  bring  him  seriously 
to  account.  But  the  Lancashire  trouble  is  very  un- 
fortunate for  him.  He  would  have  had  two  or  three 
foreign  clap-traps  ready  for  the  meeting  of  Parliament 
to  divert  public  attention  from  home  affairs  if  we  had 
continued  prosperous,  but  now  the  scent  lies  so  close 
in  the  cotton  districts  that  a  red  herring  in  Greece 
or  Montenegro  will  not  answer  his  purpose.  Lord 
Derby's  serious  personal  implication  in  the  cotton 
trouble  is  not  without  its  significance.  It  may  lead 
his  party  into  the  path  of  retrenchment.  If  the  Tories 
will  outbid  the  Whigs  in  reduction  of  expenditure 
even  in  a  small  matter,  the  victory  is  theirs." 

307 


Richard  Cobdcn  :   The  International  Man 

"  "December  18,  1862. 

"  There  is  a  point  to  discriminate  upon  in  memorial- 
izing the  Government.  It  is  quite  proper  to  raise  a 
protest  against  the  equipping  of  ships  for  belligerent 
purposes.  Not  only  should  the  Government  be  called 
on  to  observe  good  faith  in  the  matter  by  preventing 
such  a  violation  of  the  law  of  nations,  but  you  should 
denounce  in  very  strong  language  any  house  of  business 
calling  itself  respectable  which  built  ships  for  such  vile 
purposes  as  privateering  knowing  what  they  are  in- 
tended for,  and  risking  a  war  with  a  friendly  Power 
for  the  sake  of  their  own  mercenary  gains. 

"  But  you  cant  interfere  with  the  trade  in  ordinary 
articles  of  commerce  such  as  powder,  shot,  etc.,  in  time 
of  war  any  more  than  in  time  of  peace  ;  it  is,  in  fact, 
quite  impracticable.  I  admit  there  is  some  difficulty 
in  the  discrimination  in  such  matters  to  which  I  have 
referred  above,  but  I  will  direct  your  attention  to  an 
American  document  in  which  that  Government  gives 
its  ideas  of  the  law  of  the  case." 

"  December  21,  1862. 
11  You  will  find  in  the  American  President's  Message, 
in  the  Annual  Register  for  1855,  page  289  ('History'), 
the  law  laid  down  as  the  Americans  interpret  it  re- 
specting the  rights  and  duties  of  neutrals.  Last  spring 
Mr.  Adams,  the  American  Minister,  was  complaining 
to  me  very  strongly  that  our  Government  did  not 
interfere  to  prevent  the  shipments  of  arms  and  ammu- 
nition which  were  known  to  be  intended  for  the 
Confederates,  although  they  were  ostensibly  being  sent 
to  Nassau.  He  told  me  he  had  been  to  Lord  Russell  to 
complain  of  this  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Seward.  I  told 
him  that  his  Government  seemed   to  be  unaware  of  the 

308 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

principle  laid  down  by  themselves,  and  I  sent  him  an 
extract  from  the  President's  Message,  to  which  I  now 
refer  you,  and  I  begged  him  to  forward  it  to  Mr. 
Seward.  The  fact  is,  the  Republican  or  Whig  party 
now  in  power  in  the  United  States  hardly  know  the 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party  who  have  for  the 
last  fifty  years  generally  ruled  America.  That  party, 
with  their  one  sole  blemish  of  having  '  held  the  candle 
to  the  devil  '  in  winking  at  slavery  for  the  sake  of 
the  Southern  Alliance,  has  been  identified  with  the 
greatest  and  soundest  principles  of  the  Union. 

"  I  also  reminded  Mr.  Adams  that  the  North  had 
been  purchasing  arms  and  ammunition  in  England  to 
a  far  greater  extent  than  the  South.  If  you  intend 
to  send  a  memorial  to  Government,  it  should,  I  think, 
be  confined  to  the  one  point  of  urging  them  to  enforce 
the  law  of  nations,  and  to.  insist  on  the  observance 
of  the  Queen's  Proclamation  by  preventing  ships-of-war 
from  being  built  for  the  Confederates.  By  the  way, 
I  rather  think  that  the  Queen's  Proclamation  goe3 
farther  than  to  forbid  the  fitting  out  of  vessels.  I 
believe  we  profess  to  prevent  the  sale  of  arms  and 
ammunition,  which  the  Americans  do  not. 

"After  all,  it  is  impossible  practically  to  prevent  a 
foreign  Government  from  obtaining  ships  suited  for 
war  purposes  in  this  country.  They  may  be  bought 
off  our  lines  of  steamboat  traffic.  When  I  was  in 
Scotland  I  heard,  I  know  not  how  truly,  that  Mason, 
the  Confederate  envoy,  had  purchased  swift  steamers 
to  the  value  of  £70,000  in  the  Clyde.  The  true 
remedy  is  to  keep  out  of  war,  or,  if  that  be  not 
practicable,  to  adopt  such  reforms  in  the  rules  of 
war  as  shall  put  an  end  to  such  wanton  destruction 
of  property  as  that  which  is  going  on   by  the  Alabama." 


309 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Though  Cobden  had  much  to  say  on  the  American 
Civil  War,  his  thoughts  were  chiefly  communicated 
to  Bright,  Paulton  and  other  friends  in  this  country 
and  to  Sumner  in  Washington.  The  preserved  corre- 
spondence with  Mr.  Richard  contains  only  a  few 
passing  allusions  to  the  American  events  of  1863. 
Nor  are  these  letters  occupied  with  the  new  trouble 
of  Schleswig-Holstein,  that  most  recondite  of  foreign 
issues  of  which  Lord  Palmerston  was  recorded  to  have 
said  that  three  men  in  Europe  had  alone  grasped  its 
meaning,  one  of  whom  (the  Prince  Consort)  was  dead, 
another  (a  Dane)  was  mad,  while  he,  the  third,  had 
forgotten  it.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  remind  readers 
that  the  disturbance  in  1862  of  the  1852  modus 
vivendi  by  the  Powers,  first  by  Frederick  VII  of 
Denmark,  in  the  political  incorporation  of  Schleswig, 
and  next  by  Prussia  in  the  forcible  occupation  of 
Holstein,  brought  this  country  in  the  summer  of  1863 
to  the  brink  of  war.  Palmerston  was  once  more  the 
firebrand.  On  the  last  day  of  the  Session  he  made 
the  statement  that  "  if  any  violent  attempt  were  made  to 
overthrow  the  right  and  interfere  with  the  independence 
of  Denmark,  those  who  made  the  attempt  would  find 
in  the  result  that  it  would  not  be  Denmark  alone  with 
which  they  would  have  to  contend."  If  he  could 
have  carried  with  him  the  French  Emperor,  this  would 
have  meant  war.  But  Napoleon  was  not  prepared  to 
come  in,  save  on  a  basis  of  French  annexation  and  a 
general  European  war.  Palmerston  was  apparently 
prepared  to  go  on  alone,  and  only  the  determined 
deletion  by  the  Queen  of  certain  language  inscribed 
in  the  Queen's  Speech  at  the  opening  of  the  1864 
Session  averted  the   conflict. 

The  resolution,  moved   by   Roebuck  on   June  30th,  in 
favour  of   a    recognition  of   the    Southern    Confederacy, 

310 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

failed  of  support,  and  was  withdrawn.  But  public 
opinion  in  high  quarters  still  favoured  the  view  that 
the  South  would  establish  its  independence,  although 
the  tide  of  war  was  now  turning  in  favour  of  the 
North.  The  lesson  of  the  Alabama,  however,  had  been 
learned,  and  no  more  vessels  were  permitted  to  go 
out  from  our  ports  for  Confederate  use,  while  the 
endeavours  of  the  Confederate  envoys  in  Europe  to 
induce  this  country  to  support  Napoleon  in  his  proposed 
mediation   between    the   belligerents  entirely   failed. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  Cobden's  attention  was 
once  more  drawn  to  a  new  outrage  in  the  Far  East. 
This  time,  not  China  but  Japan  was  the  victim.  As  a 
reprisal  for  the  killing  of  a  Mr.  Richardson,  our  Admiral 
in  the  China  Sea,  exceeding,  as  usual,  the  instructions 
from  home,  proceeded  to  destroy  the  Japanese  city  of 
Kagosima,    containing    a  hundred  thousand    inhabitants. 

The  latest  letters  of  that  year  are  largely  concerned 
with  a  fierce  controversy  with  the  Editor  of  The  Times y 
which  the  latter  had  provoked  by  false  accusations 
against  Cobden  of  appealing  to  working-class  revolu- 
tionary passion.  These  letters  I  do  not  here  reproduce, 
as  the  matter  to  which  they  refer  is  fully  set  forth 
in  Lord  Morley's  "Life,"  and  is  not  closely  germane 
to  the  special   purpose  of  this  volume. 

"January  4,  1863. 
"  It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  course  Palmerston 
took  in  the  House  in  his  fortification  speech  on  July  23, 
i860,  was  calculated  to  thwart  my  labours  in  Paris, 
as  I  have  stated  at  p.  116  of  'The  Three  Panics.' 
But  I  have  not  stated  the  more  weighty  fact  that  he 
made  this  speech  and  took  the  course  he  did  in  spite 
of  my  urgent  private  appeal  to  him  a  fortnight  before  to 
let  me  finish  my  work  before  he  moved  in  the  matter. 

311 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Baines  of  Leeds  knew  all  this.  And  some  of  the  other 
Yorkshire  M.P.s  know  how  I  was  thwarted  by  that 
old  man.  But  they  continued  their  allegiance  to  him, 
and  the  Mercury  has  since  that  time  again  and  again 
defended  him  against  my  attack.  Yet  Yorkshire  has 
been  saved  from  the  fate  of  Lancashire  by  the  treaty  ! 
What  can  one  do  for  people  who  have  so  little  self- 
respect  ?  The  negroes  have  shown  themselves  better 
able  to  discriminate  between  their  friends  and  enemies  ! 
A  few  baronetcies,  a  timely  invitation  or  two  to  the 
Queen's  ball,  and  our  commercial  and  manufacturing 
M.P.s,  with  few  exceptions,  are  prepared  to  enlist  in 
the  ranks  of  the  governing  class,  and  forget  that  they 
represent  a  new  civilization  which  wants  its  own  leaders, 
and  to  whom  a  far  higher  rank  might  be  assigned 
in  the  world's  estimation  than  that  of  a  feudal  effete 
aristocracy." 

"  September  20,  1863. 

"  1  send  by  post  a  speech  I  made  on  the  Foreign 
Enlistment  Act.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  I  could 
get  a  hearing  for  it,  so  overwhelming  was  the  feeling 
of  the  House  the  other  way.  The  other  speech, 
made  in  a  morning  sitting  to  a  score  or  two  of  members, 
went  more  into  the  argument — as  I  was  not  subject 
to  interruptions.  It  was  delivered  a  week  before  the 
close  of  the  Session,  and  the  report,  copied  from  the 
4  Star^  appeared  in  The  Times  the  Monday  prior  to 
the  Prorogation.  I  have  since  corrected  it  for  Hansard^ 
but  do  not    know  whether  it    has    yet    been    published. 

"  There  is  something  revoltingly  base  about  the 
mode  in  which  our  organs  of  opinions  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  this  country  alter  and  adapt  their  conduct 
to  foreign  Powers  according  to  their  strength  or 
weakness.      Lord     Robert     Cecil    said,     rather    smartly, 

312 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

that  our  Foreign  Office  had  a  tariff  of  manners  for 
other  countries,  regulated  according  to  their  power. 
He  might  have  added  that  we  have  a  different  manner 
for  the  same  Power,  according  as  it  may  for  the 
moment  be  weak  or  strong.  It  is  only  because  the 
North  has  had  great  successes  since  July  that  the 
British  Lion  is  becoming  so  lamb-like  towards  it. 

"  It  is  trulv  an  awful  reverse  for  our  Peace 
principles  to  see  the  Federation  principle  no  safeguard 
against  war,  in  its  most  gigantic  proportion,  spreading 
over  the  fairest  part  of  the  New  World  !  It  is  useless 
to  argue  against  the  continuance  of  hostilities  after 
they  have  once  broken  out.  You  might  as  well 
reason  with  mad  dogs  as  with  communities  engaged  in 
the  work  of  slaughter.  It  is  only  the  exhaustion  of 
one  or  both  parties  that  can  bring  war  to  an  end.  I 
still  hope  that  negro  slavery  will  receive  its  death-blow 
in  North  America,  and  though  few  men  would  have 
agreed  beforehand  to  purchase  emancipation  at  such  a 
price,  it  wiil  be  a  consolation  to  witness  the  triumph 
of  right  at  the  hands  of  belligerents,  neither 
of  whom  two  years  ago  would  have  voted  for  such  a 
consummation.  There  is  an  obstinate  tendency  for  the 
right  to  get  its  own,  even  in  spite  of  the  powers  and 
authorities  of  the  world." 

"  November   2,    1863. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  by  your  kindness  in  sending 
me  the  papers  upon  Japan.  Horrible  as  the  idea  may 
seem  to  you,  I  could  not  help  a  momentary  feeling  of 
satisfaction  that  the  Japanese  had  shown  so  much  courage, 
and  so  deadly  an  aim,  in  their  resistance  to  our  attack  ! 
It  is  the  only  way  in  which  our  '  service '  in  the  East 
can  be  restrained  from  outrages  and  conquests,  the 
consequence    of    which,    if    God    rules    this    world    on 

313 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

principles  of  retributive  justice,  must  be  far  heavier 
on  us  as  a  nation  than  the  instant  punishment  of  the 
aggressors.  For,  observe,  that  our  commanders  in  the 
East,  confident  in  their  strength,  always  exceed  their 
instructions.  Observe,  for  instance,  Lord  John  Russell, 
in  his  dispatch  of  instructions  to  Colonel  Neale,  merely 
suggests  that  the  Admiral  may  '  shell  the  prince's 
(Satsuma's)  residence '  and  '  seize  or  detain  '  his  steam- 
vessels.  Straightway  Admiral  Kuper  proceeds  to  burn 
the  prince's  steamers,  and  to  reduce  to  a  heap  of  ruins 
Kagosima,  an  inoffensive  city  of  a  hundred  thousand 
or  more  inhabitants.  I  cannot  see  by  the  dispatches 
that  our  fleet  succeeded  in  destroying  or  silencing  the 
Japanese  forts.  They  were  armed  with  13-inch  guns 
or  mortars,  and,  judging  by  the  number  of  killed  and 
wounded  on  our  side,  1  should  say  it  was  a  drawn 
battle.  And  I  venture  to  say,  with  shame,  that  this 
evidence  of  courage  and  resources  will  do  more  than 
any  appeals  to  our  justice  in  making  us  respect  the 
rights  of  that  people  in  future.  I  foresee  a  new  element 
in  the  future  relations  of  Europe  with  the  Eastern  world 
that  may  endanger  our  filibustering  policy  in  that  region. 
The  most  powerful  weapons  of  war  are  becoming  every 
day  more  and  more  articles  of  private  manufacture 
and  commercial  dealings.  There  are  companies  for 
making  Whitworth's  guns — and  of  course  the  United 
States  has  become  a  great  arms  manufactory.  All  kinds 
of  warlike  stores  are  finding  their  way  to  China  and 
Japan,  and  by  and  by  those  nations  will  have  arms 
equal  to  our  own.  Then  with  their  vast  population  and 
remote  distance,  it  may  not  be  in  our  power  to  indulge 
in  bloodshed  and  rapine  at  so  cheap  a  rate.  If  the  maxim 
Si  vis  pacem  para  bellum  be  a  peace-preserver,  accord- 
ing to  the  theory  of  our  fire-eaters,  why  should  it  not 
apply  to  the  East  ? 

3M 


Correspondence,    1 861-4 

"  I  have  been  lately  reading  some  articles  in  successive 
numbers  of  the  Revue  aes  Deux  Monies  on  Japan,  by 
a  traveller  in  that  country,  and  when  I  think  of  the  peace, 
order,  happiness,  and  civility  to  well-conducted  foreigners 
which  generally  prevail  in  that  country,  it  does  make 
my  blood  boil  to  think  of  the  outrages  we  are  com- 
mitting and  provoking  in  that  country  :  for  there  is 
no  doubt  that  even  the  murder  of  Mr.  Richardson  was 
almost  invited  by  a  violation  of  the  established  uses  of 
the   country. 

"  If  you  will  help  to  prepare  me,  I  should  really  be 
disposed  to  bring  on  the  whole  question  of  our  policy 
in  the  East  and  test  it  by  an  appeal  to  the  principles 
of  justice,  as  well  as  national  self-interest." 

"  November  7,  1863. 

"  Whenever  you  can  pay  us  a  visit  we  shall  be  most 
happy  to  see  you. 

11 1  sat  down  to  write  to  Gladstone  about  the  Japan 
outrage,  but  I  preferred  to  send  it  to  the  public.  He 
can  find  such  good  reasons  for  not  acting  up  to  the  dictates 
of  abstract  justice  that  I  find  him  a  very  unsatisfactory 
Judge  of  Appeal. 

"  I  suppose  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock's  book  could  be 
had  cheap  at  second-hand  from  Mudie's.  I  have  not 
read  it  through,  but  I  had  some  talk  with  him,  and  he  said 
the  treaty  with  the  Japanese  was  entered  into  by  them 
with  the  Americans,  under  the  alarm  that  if  they  waited 
till  Lord  Elgin  came  from  his  triumphant  violence  in 
China  he  would  subject  them  to  worse  terms.  When 
you  come,  I  will  trouble  you  to  bring  your  copy  of  the 
correspondence.  I  know  precisely  the  course  which 
ought  to  be  taken  in  Japan,  and  which  should  have 
been  pursued  in  China.  We  should  adopt  the  plan 
which  the  rude  common  sense  of  our  ancestors  reverted 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to  in  the  time  of  the  Plantagenets.  Then,  the  merchants 
of  the  Hanse  Towns  (the  '  Esterlings,'  and  hence  the 
word  sterling),  who  came  to  London  to  trade  in  our 
raw  products  in  exchange  for  their  manufactures, 
lived  under  a  distinct  code  of  laws  and  were  exempt 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  our  Admiralty  Courts,  on 
condition  that  they  lived  apart  and  did  not  mingle  with 
the  natives.  They  were  located  in  a  walled-in  place 
called  the  '  Steelyard '  near  the  river,  and  which  still 
bears  the  name.  This  is  the  only  way  in  which  collisions 
can  be  avoided,  and  in  which  trade  can  be  carried  on 
with  these  Eastern  people  with  profit  to  the  English 
people,  as  distinct  from  the  few  filibustering  British 
residents  in  the  East  to  whom  wars  and  confusion  are 
often  profitable.  If  I  bring  on  the  question,  this  is 
the  policy  I  shall  try  to  enforce. 

"  You  are  quite  right  in  absolutely  restricting  your 
memoir  of  Sturge  to  one  moderately  sized  volume. 

"By  the  way,  I  observed  that  that  most  vain  and 
inaccurate  old  man,  Brougham,  took  credit  to  himself 
at  Edinburgh  for  having  abolished  the  negro  apprentice- 
ship. Now,  I  remember  a  very  graphic  description 
which  he  gave  me  in  a  conversation  at  his  house  in 
Grafton  Street  of  Sturge's  conduct  in  the  matter,  and 
which  he  adduced  as  an  illustration  of  our  friend's 
indomitable  energy.  He  told  me  of  Sturge  coming 
to  him,  whilst  he  was,  I  believe,  still  Lord  Chancellor, 
to  arraign  the  conduct  of  the  masters  in  the  West  Indies 
for  oppressing  the  apprentices  ;  how  he  (Brougham) 
laughed  him  to  scorn,  deriding  him  in  this  fashion  for 
coming  to  him  to  propose  that  he  should  abolish  the 
apprenticeship  :  '  Why,  you  old  woman,  Joseph  Sturge, 
to  dream  that  you  can  revive  the  anti-slavery  feeling 
and  raise  an  agitation  to  put  an  end  to  the  apprentice- 
ship '  ;   how  the  quiet  Quaker  met  him  with  this  reply  : 

316 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

1  Lord  Brougham,  if  thou  hadst  a  ward  in  Chancery  who 
was  apprenticed,  and  his  master  was  violating  the  terms 
of  his  indenture,  what  wouldst  thou  do  ?  '  Now  he 
(Lord  B.)   felt    this    as    a    home-thrust,   and    he    replied, 

*  Why,  I  should  require  good  proof,  Joseph  Sturge,  before 
I  did  anything '  ;  how  our  friend  rejoined,  '  Then  I 
must  supply  thee  with  proof;  how  he  packed  up  his 
portmanteau  and  quietly  embarked  for  the  West  Indies, 
made  a  tour  of  the  Islands,  collected  the  necessary 
evidence  of  the  oppression  that  was  being  practised  on 
the  negro  apprentices  by  their  masters,  the  planters  ; 
how  he  returned  to  England,  and  commenced  an  agitation 
throughout  the  country  to  abolish  the  apprenticeship,  to 
accomplish  which  it  was  necessary  to  reorganize  all  the 
old  anti-slavery  societies  which  had  been  dissolved  or  had 
laid  down  their  arms  happy  to  be  relieved  from  their 
long  and  arduous  labours  ;  how  he  brought  them  again 
into  the  field  and  accomplished  his  objects.  This  was 
the  narrative  of  Lord  Brougham,  and  well  do  I  remember 
the  very  words  in  which,  in  conclusion,  he  assigned  the 
whole    merit    to    our    friend — ( Joseph    Sturge,'   said   he, 

*  won  the  game  off  his  own  bat.'  " 

"  November  1 1,  ,1863. 

"  I  do  not  see  The  'Times  here,  and  should  like  to 
have  the  copy  containing  Buxton's  letter  about  Japan. 
From  letters  that  reach  me  from  men  of  the  different 
parties,  I  suspect  that  the  national  conscience  is  a  little 
moved.  Looking  back  to  the  time  of  Clive  and  down 
to  our  day,  cruel  and  remorseless  as  our  policy  in  the 
East  has  been,  I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  one  outrage 
to  compare  in  magnitude  with  that  of  Kagosima.  And 
this  I  hope  you  will  say  in  your  memorial  to  the  Queen. 

si  I  very  much  doubt  the  policy  of  your  stirring  in 
the    Congress    question    at    present.      You    cannot    feel 

317 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

confidence  in  the  object  of  the  Emperor,  whose  Mexican 
expedition  has  paralysed  him  morally  and  materially  to 
a  serious  extent.  Besides,  he  alludes  but  obscurely  to 
the  reduction  of  armaments.  My  advice  is  to  wait.  If 
our  Government  agree  to  a  Congress,  which  the  Morning 
Post  would  seem  to  lead  one  to  expect,  then  there  would 
indeed  be  a  grand  occasion  for  the  Peace  Society  to  come 
out  in  all  its  strength  on  the  armament  question.  Then 
you  must  be  prepared  with  some  well-founded  statistics 
of  the  growing  character  of  the  peace  establishments,  and 
with  citations  from  Peel  and  others  to  place  you  on 
practical  ground.  But  if  you  stir  previously  to  our 
Government  agreeing,  you  put  yourselves  in  the  position 
of  backing  the  Emperor,  which  /  should  not  at  present 
like  to  do. 

"  Apropos  of  that  anecdote  of  Brougham  and  Sturge, 
I  could  swear  to  the  main  incidents,  and  I  remember  well 
how  Brougham  brandished  a  poker  as  he  said,  '  Joseph 
Sturge  won  that  game  ofF  his  own  bat.'  But  it  is  more 
than  twenty  years  ago,  and  I  should  like  to  be  sure  that 
the  details  are  correctly  remembered,  but  this  you  can  tell 
me.  For  instance,  was  Brougham  Lord  Chancellor  when 
the  apprenticeship  was  abolished  ?  If  not,  the  colloquy 
must  have  merely  been  difFerent  to  this  extent  :  Sturge 
must  have  asked  him  what  he  would  have  done  in  the 
case  of  an  apprentice  who  was  a  ward  in  Chancery  when 
he  was  Lord  Chancellor  ? 

"  By  the  way,  I  have  heard  those  who  listened  to 
Brougham's  speech  on  that  question  say  it  surpassed  any 
of  his  previous  efforts." 

"  November  19,  1863. 

11  Many  thanks  for  the  Parliamentary  Papers,  and  the 
extract  from  The  Times  of  Buxton's  letter.  By  the  way, 
do  you  see  that  in  the  Star  there  is  an  announcement 

318 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

of  his  intention  to  bring  on  the  Kagosima  affair  on  the 
meeting    of    Parliament  ?     He    gives    the    terms    of   his 
notice,  which  is  unusual  and  uncalled  for.      It  absolves 
the  Foreign  Office,  by  alleging  that  the  Admiral  did  not 
act  according  to  instructions.      I   have  suspected  Buxton 
of  sometimes  playing  the  part  of  '  buffer  '  to  the  Whig 
Ministry.     This   propensity   to   prefer   aristocratic   party 
convenience  to  principle  runs  in  the  blood  of  the  Buxtons. 
I   have   no    doubt    the    Government    will    try  to    shelter 
Kuper  under  the  plea  of  accident.     No  other  defence  will, 
I    think,    carry    the    House.      1    have    had    a   very   wide 
response  to  my  letter  from  men  of  all  parties  in  every 
part  of  the  country.     I  hope  it  will  be  the  turning-point 
in  our  Eastern  policy.     The  bravery  of  the  Japanese  and 
their  mechanical  ingenuity  and   progressive  character  will 
be  their  best  security  against  injustice.     I  am  glad  you 
are  going  to  write  a  summary  of  our  doings  in  Japan. 
11  Do  you  happen  to  have  access  to  the  Lancet  ?    There 
was  an  account  of  a  visit  which  the  Queen  paid  to  the 
Military  Hospital  of  Netley  about  six   months  since   in 
that  paper,  with  a  vivid  picture  of  the  Indian  invalids. 
I  should  like  to  be  able  to  lay  my  hand  on  it.     There  is 
a  new  field  altogether  untouched  to  explore  and  expose, 
in   the  cost  of  life,  health,  and   morality  of  our  Oriental 
occupations.      It  would  be  found  that  the  cost  in  life  and 
sickness  is  equal  to  a  couple  of  Battles  of  Waterloo  yearly. 
I    remember  the   late    George    Combe  relating   to   me  a 
conversation  he  had  had  with  M'Culloch  ('  Commercial 
Dictionary  '),  who  was   expatiating  on  the  national  loss, 
vitally    and    financially,    which    our    Indian     possessions 
entailed  on  us  ;  and  on  his  (Combe's)  suggesting  that  he 
(M'C.)    should    give    publicity  to    his    views,  the    latter 
replied,  '  That  will    never    do,  for    if   I    did    the  public 
would  not  believe  me,  or  read   anything  I  said  on  any 
other  subject.'  " 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"  November  21,  1863. 
"  What  you  say  about  the  demand  actually  made  for 
compensation  for  the  murder  of  Mr.  Richardson  from 
the  Japanese  Government  increases  the  enormity  of  our 
wickedness.  It  is  so  outrageous  that  it  may  perhaps 
serve  the  cause  of  justice  by  creating  a  revulsion  in  public 
feeling.  One  of  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the  fall 
of  the  present  Government,  and  the  return  of  the  Tories 
to  power,  would  be  the  opening  it  would  offer  to  the 
latter  for  a  complete  change  in  our  filibustering  policy  in 
the  East,  in  which  they  have  not  been  the  guilty  party. 
Nothing  serious  can  be  done  in  this  or  any  other  direc- 
tion, in  the  way  of  reform,  whilst  the  present  old  joker  is 
at  the  head  of  affairs." 

"  December  30,  1863. 

"  Can  you  get  me  Carlyle's  address  ?  I  don't  find  it  in 
the  Court  Guide.     His  name  is  Thomas^  is  it  not  ? 

"  Be  cautious  how  you  endorse  the  Emperor.  His 
views  and  purposes  are  not  ours — at  least  not  at  present. 
Give  him  the  Rhine  boundary,  and  I  believe  he  would  go 
for  a  general  disarmament.  But  there  is  something  to  do 
before  that  is  effected. 

"Is  it  certain  that  these  wild  and  visionary  Teutons 
may  not,  after  all,  put  Europe  in  flames  ?  They  are  mad 
about  Schleswig,  and  it  is  just  out  of  such  a  foolish 
fanatical  outbreak  that  a  man  like  L.  N.,  who  is  always 
as  cool  as  a  cucumber,  will  make  his  winning  game.  If 
Germany  precipitates  itself  on  Denmark,  there  will  be 
something  come  of  it  on  the  Rhine,  Danube,  and  Mincio. 
And  so  completely  will  the  sympathies  of  England  and 
Europe  be  on  the  other  side  that  it  is  not  easy  to  say 
what  may  not  come  of  it. 

11  At  the  same  time,  apropos  of  the  Congress,  I  have 

320 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

always  been  of  opinion  that  England  would  be  the  last 
Power  to  wish  to  see  a  reduction   of  armaments." 

•  •  •  •  • 

Cobden's  general  view  of  the  situation  at  tha  close  of 
1863  is  well  conveyed  in  the  following  letter  to  his 
French  friend,   M.   Aries  Dufour  : — 

"  Midhurst,  'December  6,  1863. 

"  When  I  spoke  to  my  constituents  at  Rochdale  on 
the  evening  of  the  24th,  I  knew  that  our  Government 
had  determined  not  to  attend  the  Congress.  Yet  I  took 
the  opportunity  of  saying  that,  as  the  Emperor's  pro- 
gramme contained  an  allusion  to  the  Emperor's  arma- 
ments, I  could  not  agree  in  opposing  him.  At  the  same 
time,  I  said  I  had  but  little  faith  in  a  Congress  for  any 
other  purpose.  This  is  my  real  opinion.  It  is  indeed 
consistent  with  my  principle  of  non-intervention,  for  I 
have  no  faith  in  the  power  of  other  nations  to  put  down 
the  coils  of  a  civil  war  in  any  particular  State.  The  only 
plan  is  to  leave  them  to  settle  their  own  quarrels. 

"  Then  as  regards  Mexico,  you  ought  to  be  thankful 
that  somebody  even  at  Rochdale  tells  the  Emperor  the 
truth  about  his  most  unwise  expedition  to  that  country. 
If  he  remains  there  until  the  North  has  subdued  the 
South,  which  is  only  a  question  of  time,  he  will  either  have 
to  go  to  war  with  that  powerful  nation  with  all  his  iron- 
clad batteries  ready  to  move  to  Vera  Cruz,  or  he  will  be 
subjected  to  great  humiliation  in  being  obliged  to  leave 
the  country  at  the  instance  of  the  Government  of  Wash- 
ington. The  expedition  to  Mexico  is,  under  the  circum- 
stances, an  insult  to  the  United  States.  How  would 
Frenchmen  like  the  Americans  to  come  and  set  up  a 
Republic  in   Belgium  without  consulting  them  ? 

"  As  to  M.  Gueroult's  threats  of  a  general  war,  I 
attach  little  importance  to  them.     Some  people  talk  as  if 

321  X 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

mankind  naturally  gravitated  towards  war.  Now  I  see 
very  good  and  sufficient  obstacles  in  our  days  to  the 
Powers  of  Europe  entering  on  a  general  war.  The 
imagination,  particularly  of  a  Frenchman,  may  easily 
make  such  a  state  of  things,  but  the  poetical  flight  of 
such  writers  as  M.  Gueroult  will  have  to  be  brought 
to  the  test  of  M.  Fould's  prosaic  figures  of  arithmetic. 
The  nations  of  Europe,  so  far  from  being  able  to  com- 
mence a  general  campaign,  will  find  themselves  during 
the  next  year  puzzled  to  sustain  the  burdens  of  their 
peace  establishments. 

"  We  are  only  now  beginning  to  feel  the  effects  of  the 
cotton  famine.  You  will  remember  that  two  years  ago 
you  and  I  used  to  speak  of  the  terrible  convulsion  which 
would  follow  from  the  sudden  cutting  off  of  the  supply  of 
American  cotton.  People  have  been  pooh-poohing  the 
cotton  industry  ever  since,  and  saying  that  its  importance 
has  been  overrated.  The  truth  is  that  the  very  strength 
of  that  industry,  so  far  as  England  is  concerned,  has 
enabled  it  to  bear  up  so  well  under  the  trial. 

"  But  the  diversion  of  specie  to  pay  fifty  or  sixty 
millions  sterling  more  than  the  ordinary  price  for  cotton 
next  year  threatens  all  the  money  markets  with  panic  and 
confusion,  will  bring  Governments  to  look  for  their 
wicked  waste  of  the  floating  capitals  of  the  world,  and 
give  them  other  employment  than  in  carrying  out  M. 
Gueroult's  imaginary  war." 


The  last  year  of  Cobden's  political  activity  (1864)  was 
remarkable  not  only  for  the  pressure  of  foreign  affairs 
upon  the  popular  interest  of  our  country,  but  as  marking 
the  close  of  the  era  of  Palmerstonian  Jingoism.  Writing 
on  May  10th  to  Mr.  T.  B.  Potter,  Cobden  remarked 
that  "  nothing  except  foreign  politics   seems   to  occupy 

322 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4. 

the  attention  of  the  people,  Press,  or  Parliament."  He 
wrote  in  a  regretful  tone,  for  foreign  politics  had  always 
carried  the  menace  of  intervention,  with  militarism  in 
the  background.  The  romantic  figure  of  Garibaldi, 
who  visited  this  country  in  the  spring,  had  roused  a 
wild  enthusiasm  among  all  classes,  which  the  Govern- 
ment, who  had  here  no  definite  axe  to  grind,  found 
very  inconvenient.  A  champion  of  national  liberties, 
a  first-rate  fighting  man,  an  enemy  of  the  Papacy,  as 
he  was  deemed,  he  presented  just  the  combination  of 
qualities  for  the  role  of  hero.  But  when  the  populace 
began  to  recognize  in  him  the  exemplar  of  the  modern 
democratic  revolutionist,  and  had  made  arrangements 
for  a  series  of  receptions  in  the  great  Northern  cities, 
the  Government  took  alarm  and  whisked  him  off  to 
Caprera  in   a  ducal  yacht. 

But  the  really  critical  event  of  the  year  was  the  failure 
of  Lord  Palmerston  and  Lord  John  Russell  to  bring 
their  country  into  conflict  with  Prussia  over  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  question.  Two  passages  from  the 
last  of  Cobden's  speeches  addressed  in  November  to 
his  Rochdale  constituents  give  the  best  summary  of  the 
episode  as  he  saw  it. 

"  In  1852,  by  the  mischievous  activity  of  our  Foreign 
Office,  seven  diplomatists  were  brought  round  a  green 
table  in  London  to  settle  the  destinies  of  a  million  of 
people  in  the  two  provinces  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein, 
without  the  slightest  reference  to  the  wants  and  wishes 
or  the  tendencies  and  interests  of  that  people.  The 
preamble  of  the  treaty,  which  was  there  and  then  agreed 
to,  states  that  what  these  seven  diplomatists  were  going 
to  do  was  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Danish 
monarch v  and  to  sustain  the  Balance  of  Power  in 
Europe.  Kings,  emperors,  princes  were  represented 
at   that    meeting,   but    the  people   had   not   the    slightest 

323 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

voice  or  right  in  the  matter.  They  settled  the  treaty, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  draw  closer  the  bonds  between 
these  two  provinces  and  Denmark.  The  tendency  of 
the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  those  provinces — 
about  a  million  of  them  altogether — was  altogether  in 
the  direction  of  Germany.  From  that  time  to  this  year 
the  treaty  was  followed  by  constant  agitation  and  dis- 
cord ;  two  wars  have  sprung  out  of  it,  and  it  has  ended 
in  the  treaty  being  torn  to  pieces  by  two  of  the  Govern- 
ments who  were  prominent  parties  to  the  treaty." 

Then,  turning  to  immediate  issues  of  this  year,  the 
proposed  intervention  in  behalf  of  Denmark,  he  pro- 
ceeds :  u  The  newspapers  that  were  in  the  interest  of 
the  Government  were  harping  in  favour  of  war  to  the 
last  moment  in  large  leading  articles.  Some  announced 
the  very  number  of  the  regiments,  the  names  of  the 
colonels,  the  names  of  the  ships,  and  the  commanders 
that  would  be  sent  to  fight  this  battle  for  Denmark. 
In  the  House  of  Commons  there  was  a  general  opinion 
that  there  was  a  great  struggle  going  on  in  the  Cabinet 
as  to  whether  we  should  declare  war  against  Germany. 
At  the  end  of  June  the  Prime  Minister  announced  that 
he  was  going  to  produce  the  protocols  and  to  state 
the  decision  of  the  Government  upon  the  question. 
He  gave  a  week's  notice  of  this  intention,  and  then  I 
witnessed  what  has  convinced  me  that  we  have  achieved 
a  revolution  in  our  foreign  policy.  The  whippers-in — 
you  know  what  I  mean — were  taking  soundings  of  the 
inclinations  of  members  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
And  then  came  up  from  the  country  such  a  manifesta- 
tion of  opinion  against  war  that  day  after  day  during 
that  eventful  week  member  after  member  from  the 
largest  constituencies  went  to  those  who  acted  for  the 
Government  in  Parliament  and  told  them  distinctly 
that  they  would   not  allow  war    upon   any  such   matters 

324 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

as  Schleswig  and  Holstein.  There  came  surging  up 
from  all  the  great  seats  and  centres  of  manufacturing 
and  commercial  activity  one  unanimous  veto  against 
war  for  the  matter  of  Schleswig  and   Holstein." 

Cobden  was  not  aware  of  the  powerful  pressure  from 
the  Throne  which  co-operated  with  this  public  opinion, 
or  he  might  have  been  less  confident  in  imputing  to 
this  latter  influence  the  sole  or  chief  determination  of 
our  governmental  action.  But  no  doubt  the  experience 
of  the  American  Civil  War  and  the  recent  memories 
of  the  Crimean  folly  had  a  marked  effect  in  a  pacific 
direction,  while  the  rising  economic  prosperity  of  the 
country  disinclined  the  middle  classes  from  participation 
in   the  proposed  foreign  enterprise. 

"  The  manufacturing  and  commercial  interests  of  this 
country  were  in  a  state  of  almost  unparalleled  expansion. 
They  had  entered  into  vast  engagements,  expecting 
that  they  would  be  realized  and  fulfilled  in  time  of 
peace  ;  both  capitalists  and  labourers  felt  that,  if  war 
had  arisen  just  then,  it  would  have  produced  enormous 
calamities,  such  as  no  nation  ought  ever  to  bring  upon 
itself,  unless  in  defence  of  its  vital  interest  and  honour." 

The  pretext  given  by  Palmerston  for  the  abandonment 
of  Denmark,  whose  resistance  he  had  stimulated  by 
definite  promises  of  aid,  was  the  unwillingness  of  France 
and  Russia  to  support  his  action.  But  none  the  less 
the  War  party  felt  the  humiliation  of  their  failure, 
and  Cobden  was  justified  in  holding  that  his  policy  of 
non-intervention  had  triumphed.  In  his  speech  on 
Disraeli's  Vote  of  Censure  moved  on  July  5th  he  pressed 
home  once  more  the  relation  between  peace  and  tree 
commerce. 

The  other  important  foreign  issue  which  occupied  his 
voice  and  pen  in  this  year  was  the  persistent  brutality 
of  our   Far  Eastern  policy,  the  latest  example  of  which 

325 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

had  been  the  wanton  attack  upon  Kagosima.  On  May 
31st  Cobden  moved  a  resolution  urging  that  the  policy 
of  non-intervention  which  we  now  professed  to  observe 
in  Europe  and  America  should  be  observed  in  our 
relations  with  the  yellow  peoples.  Experience  of  the 
last  few  years  was  bringing  home  to  him  with  ever- 
growing clearness  of  perception  that  our  Asiatic  policy 
in  particular  was  directed  by  the  push  for  markets 
more  than  by  any  other  motive. 

Such  were  the  matters  which  chiefly  occupied  Cobden 
in  the  correspondence  with  Mr.  Richard  during  1864 
which  is  given  below.  His  important  American  cor- 
respondence is  given   in  another  chapter. 

"  January  28,  1864. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  not  the  slightest  hope 
that  the  House  will  disapprove  the  Kagosima  affair. 
Members  have  not  forgotten  the  result  of  the  vote  in 
favour  of  my  motion  condemnatory  of  the  Canton 
bombardment,  when  the  constituencies  repudiated  the 
decision  of  Parliament,  rejected  at  the  polls  the  men 
who  had  supported  me,  and  thus  virtually  gave 
Palmerston  carte  blanche  to  do  as  he  pleased  for  the 
rest  of  his  life  in  the  East.  The  Opposition  will  not 
give  him  another  opportunity  of  appealing  to  the  British 
Lion.  The  stream  does  not  rise  above  the  level  of  its 
source.  Nor  will  the  House  be  better  than  the  middle 
class  of  this  country  which  creates  it,  and  which  has 
virtually  declared,  'On  us  a:ii  our  children  lie  the 
responsibility  for  our  unrighteous  deeds  in  the  East  ! ' 

"It  looks  as  though  Palmerston  was  bent  on  involving 
us  in  the  Danish  quarrel.  I  have  written  to  Gibson 
and  Gladstone  pointing  out  to  them  what  the  con- 
sequences will  be  if,  by  entering  on  a  war  with  any 
maritime    Power,  we    give    the    American    { Lairds '    an 

326 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

opportunity  of  supplying  a  belligerent  with  Alabamas  to 
prey  on  our  commerce,  which  they  will  certainly  do.  I 
can  hardly  bring  myself  to  believe  in  such  infatuation. 
But  sometimes,  when  observing  the  spirit  which 
pervades  so  large  a  part  of  even  our  mercantile  and 
manufacturing  classes — a  spirit  of  arrogant  pride  and 
self-sufficiency — I  am  almost  inclined  to  resign  myself 
with  cynical  complacency  to  some  national  disaster  or 
check  as  the  only  possible  cure  for  our  national   vices." 

44  February  7,  1864. 

"  What  a  ridiculous  mess  our  Foreign  Office  has  got 
into  !  And  yet  it  was  for  the  '  foreign  policy  '  of  the 
Government  that  we  were  asked  to  condone  all  the 
shortcomings  at  home  !  We  are  a  most  heavy-witted, 
dull  people,  but  I  should  think  we  must  wake  up 
sooner  or  later  to  the  ridiculously  absurd  position  in 
which  we  are  placed  by  all  this  tall  talk  and  fruitless 
Blue-bookism.  It  may,  and  must,  I  should  say,  bring 
us  to  the  honest  ground  of  non-intervention,  for  nobody 
will  believe  that  our  Government  ever  means  to  do 
anything  but  talk. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  it  was  the  fear  of  American 
Alabamas  that  really  kept  us  from  committing  our- 
selves to  an  act  of  hostility.  We  can  no  longer  localize 
a  war.  It  is  an  open  question  whether  Laird  has  not 
been  a  great  peace-maker  by  giving  this  fearful  example 
of  the  injury  that  half  a  dozen  swift  steamers  would 
inflict  on  our  commerce.  Depend  on  it,  there  is  a 
complete  revolution  in  our  foreign  policy  to  arise  out 
of  those  Birkenhead  doings." 

"  February  10,  1864. 
4<  I  am  not  sorry  that  I  have  been  absent  from  Buxton's 
motion.     But    I     wish    to   have   an   hour   in   the  House 

327 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

upon  the  whole  question  of  our  relations  with  these 
Oriental  peoples,  and  have  no  doubt  there  will  be  an 
opportunity  in  connection  with  the  larger  question  of 
China.  The  expense  of  coercing  China  and  Japan  will, 
owing  to  the  immense  distance  and  to  their  gradual 
adoption  of  European  arms  and  discipline,  be  constantly 
increasing.  The  unhealthiness  of  China  is  another 
terrible  evil.  Apropos  of  arms,  I  was  told  yesterday 
by  a  partner  in  the  Whitworth  house  that  the  Chinese 
Government  offered  for  the  Whitworth  rifled  guns  in 
Captain  Sherrard  Osborn's  vessels,  which  are  now  re- 
turning, weight  for  weight  in  silver. 

"  February  i  2,  1 864. 

"  What  a  wretched  figure  the  mere  Whigs  and  shabby 
Liberals  cut  on  Buxton's  motion  !  If  the  Tories  had 
been  in  power,  not  one  of  the  men  of  the  stamp  of 
Bass  and  Beale  of  Derby  would  have  voted  as 
they  did.  It  is  a  sad  feature  in  our  popular  con- 
stituencies that  they  have  for  the  last  ten  years  been 
falling  into  the  way  of  returning  some  rich  capitalist 
or  contractor — a  man  past  the  middle  age,  of  no  political 
antecedents,  and  whose  only  ambition  in  going  to 
Parliament  is  social  position.  The  whole  scope  of  the 
motives  on  both  sides  is  of  the  lowest  kind.  The  con- 
stituents offer  the  seat  as  a  complimentary  tribute  to 
a  rich  man  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  he  accepts  it 
that  his  wife  may  go  to  the  Queen's  ball  !  I  wish  you 
Dissenters  would  break  in  upon  this  state  of  things 
and  supply  some  higher  tests  for  party  divisions.  Has 
your  letter  been  printed  in  a  pamphlet  form  ? 

"  But,  to  return  to  China  and  Japan,  I  wish  for  an 
opportunity  of  bringing  on  the  whole  question  of  our 
commercial  relations,  showing  the  relation  of  cost  of 
armaments    to    the  extent  of   trade,    and    showing    how 

328 


Correspondence,    1 86 1-4 

greatly  the  one  increases  beyond  the  other,  and  to 
advocate  the  principle  of  restricting  rather  than  in- 
creasing the  number  of  points  of  contact.  I  think  the 
present  discussions  are  leading  up  to  the  questions 
which   I  wish  to  bring  on." 

"  February  17,  1864. 
"  You  must  especially  refer  to  Kinnaird  in  your 
Herald.  It  is  the  only  way  to  bring  such  humbugs  to 
book.  He  voted  against  my  motion  in  1857  on  the 
Canton  massacre.  You  will  see  that  he  tried  to  speak 
the  very  last  in  the  debate,  but  could  not  be  heard. 
Sidney  Herbert,  in  his  speech  in  favour  of  my  motion 
referred  to  Kinnaird  and  claimed  his  vote,  but  as 
usual  the  little  fellow  went  with  the  Government.  You 
must  really  take  him  in  hand.  You  heard  of  Bright's 
remark  on  him.  He  (Bright)  was  talking  to  a  member 
in  the  lobby  as  Kinnaird  passed,  and  Bright  remarked, 
•  There's  a  little  fellow  that  will  vote  for  any  amount 
of  slaughter  on  Evangelical   principles.'" 

"  July  14,  1864. 
u  1  am  glad  you  approve  what  1  said  in  the  debate 
last  week.  The  latter  part  of  my  speech,  by  the 
way,  contained  arguments  of  your  own,  quoted  almost 
textually  from  the  Herald.  The  week's  wrangle  will 
undoubtedly  do  good.  Did  you  observe  the  speeches 
of  Lord  Stanley  and  Gathorne  Hardy  ?  You  and  I 
could  endorse  every  word.  The  latter  is  a  very  rising 
man,  and  will  be  in  the  front  rank  of  his  party. 
There  are  parts  of  his  speech,  where  he  speaks  of  the 
power  England  may  possess  if  she  will  assume  a 
neutral  ground,  especially  valuable.  For  myself,  I 
never  had  so  many  private  adhesions  to  my  views  as  I 
did  from    men  on  both  sides  after  speaking  last  Tues- 

329 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

day.  Bright  could  not  trust  himself  to  speak.  He 
was  afraid  of  attacking  the  Ministry  so  strongly  as  to 
make  it  impossible  for  us  to  vote  for  them.  Our 
Foreign  Office  and  its  diplomacy  have  had  a  shake. 
Two  or  three  old  men  removed  from  the  arena  will 
leave  the  old  dispensation  without  a  defender." 

"  November  10,  i  864. 

"  At  my  coming  meeting  with  my  constituents  I  must 
say  something  to  clench  the  revolution  in  our  foreign 
policy  which  I  shall  assume  was  effected  in  the  last 
Session  of  Parliament.  Indeed,  I  should  like  much  to 
have  an  hour  on  the  question  alone.  There  is  much 
to  be  done  before  we  bring  the  great  political  parties 
to  an  honest  recognition  of  the  principle  of  non-inter- 
vention.    They  will  not  like  to  bury   the   red-herring." 

"  November  13,  1864. 

"  You  are  quite  right  in  your  idea  of  bringing  out 
a  resume  of  past  progress  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Peace 
Party.  By  showing  how  far  you  have  been  right  in 
times  gone  by,  you  will  exalt  your  authority  in  future 
controversy. 

"  By  the  way,  I  look  on  Mr.  Laird  as  the  greatest 
contributor  to  the  success  of  non-intervention  principles. 
The  doings  of  the  Alabama  have  alarmed  not  only  our 
shipowners,  but  every  statesman  who  can  look  beyond 
the  horizon  of  Foreign  Office  maxims.  I  defy  us  to 
go  to  war  for  any  of  the  old  European  issues,  the 
Balance  of  Power,  the  Eastern  Question,  or  any  dynastic 
or  territorial  question  whatever,  and  I  shall  say  so  at 
Rochdale.  Our  national  life  is  more  involved  in 
countries  out  of  Europe  than  on  the  Continent.  The 
'  Equilibrium  of  Europe  '  was  a  phrase  of  some  signifi- 
cance when  the  whole  civilized  world  was  in  Europe. 
It  has  lost  its  meaning  now." 

330 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    CIVIL   WAR   AND   THE    SUMNER   LETTERS 

Brief  reference  has  been  made  in  the  foregoing  chapters 
to  incidents  in  the  American  Civil  War  which  touched 
this  country  and  to  the  attitude  taken  by  Cobden  both 
upon  these  matters  and  upon  the  wider  issues  of  the 
conflict.  But  fortunately  there  survives  a  fuller  and 
more  continuous  record  of  Cobden's  opinions  and 
sentiments  regarding  this  great  struggle,  in  the  series 
of  letters  written  during  this  period  to  his  American 
friend,  Charles  Sumner,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and 
influential  men  in  the  public  life  of  America  in  the 
mid-century,  who  had  formed  a  close  attachment  to 
Cobden  as  far  back  as  the  late  forties.  Though  their 
personal  acquaintance  was  confined  to  a  few  very  brief 
visits,  their  political  principles  and  enthusiasm  had  so 
much  in  common  that  they  were  able  to  communicate 
with  one  another  across  the  Atlantic  iira  tone  of  close 
mutual  confidence.  Sumner  was  born  and  bred  in 
Boston  during  a  time  when  that  city  and  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  were  enriched  with  a  number  of  men 
of  unusual  eminence  in  intellectual  life,  some  of  whom 
devoted  their  energies  to  the  new  political  causes  which 
were  coming  up  so  rapidly  in  the  forties  and  the  fifties. 
Sumner  was  among  the  most  Radical  of  these  in  his 
thought  and  sympathies,  and  his  striking  personal 
appearance,  conjoined  with  unrivalled  powers  of  oratory, 
made  him  a  leader  in  every  cause  to  which  he  attached 

331 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

himself.  The  Peace  and  Anti-Slavery  movements 
claimed  his  adhesion  from  the  early  forties,  when,  as 
a  young  law  graduate  from  Harvard,  he  launched  in 
1845  his  first  great  oration  to  his  fellow-citizens  in 
Tremont  Hall  upon  "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations." 
Sumner  stood  on  the  policy  of  war  and  peace  in 
exactly  the  same  position  as  Cobden.  He  was  not  a 
non-resister  or  a  "  peace  at  any  price "  man.  When 
the  war  broke  out  in  his  own  country,  he  gave  stout  and 
consistent  support  to  the  Northern  cause,  recognizing 
a  case  in  which  an  appeal  to  force,  for  the  defence  of 
higher  principles  than  life  itself,  was  necessary.  These 
higher  principles  were  individual  freedom,  violated  by 
the  institution  of  slavery,  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
Union,  menaced  by  secession.  When  the  slave  issue 
first  took  sharp  political  shape  in  the  demand  of  the 
slave-holding  States  for  an  extension  of  the  institution 
to  the  new  territories  wrested  from  Mexico,  Sumner 
joined  the  Free  Soil  Party,  and  was  one  of  its  most 
powerful  leaders.  Later  on,  when  in  1851  the  issue 
forced  the  main  body  of  the  "Democrats"  (afterwards 
"  Republicans ")  to  combine  with  the  "  Free  Soilers," 
in  order  to  keep  Massachusetts  from  capture  by  the 
"  Whigs,"  Sumner  was  elected  a  Senator,  and  from 
this  time,  right  through  the  stormy  period  of  the  Civil 
War  and  reconstruction  up  to  1873,  he  stood  out  as 
one  of  the  most  powerful  voices  of  American  Liberalism. 
His  earliest  known  correspondence  with  Cobden  is  in 
1848  and  1849.  Of  two  letters  of  Cobden  dated  in 
these  years,  the  first  deals  with  the  question  of  reduction 
of  armaments  in  time  of  war,  the  second  opens  a 
remarkable  speculation  regarding  the  probable  future 
union  of  the  United  States  and   Canada. 

When    the    Civil    War    broke    out    Sumner    held    the 
important    position    of    Chairman    of   the    Senate    Com- 

332 


CHARLES   SUMNER   (1811-74) 


[To  face  page  332.     _.- 


The   Civil    War    and  the    Sumner   Letters 

mittee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  Cobden,  recognizing  the 
value  of  this  position  in  its  influence  upon  American 
policy,  set  himself  from  November  1851  onwards  to 
maintain  a  regular  interchange  of  views  with  Sumner 
upon  the  several  critical  issues  in  which  this  country 
and  France  were  involved  by  the  events  of  the  American 
struggle.  With  especial  earnestness  did  Cobden  strive 
to  inform  Sumner  of  the  real  state  of  public  opinion 
in  this  country  and  to  correct  the  exceedingly  erroneous 
notion  that  our  nation  as  a  whole  was  sympathetic  with 
the  slave-owners  and  secessionists.  As  for  himself,  he 
frankly  admits  he  would  not  have  gone  to  war  even  for 
emancipation  ;  and  at  the  opening  of  the  struggle  his 
instinctive  abhorrence  of  bloodshed  made  him,  as  we 
have  seen,  hesitate  a  little  before  casting  his  sympathy 
with  the  Northern  appeal  to  force.  But  when  clear 
as  to  the  balance  of  the  moral  issues  in  favour  of  the 
North,  he  never  swerved,  and  did  more  than  any  other 
Englishman,  save  Bright,  to  correct  the  mistakes  of 
fact  and  judgment  which  confused  the  issue  in  this 
country  at  the  outset,  and  to  give  sound  counsel  upon 
the  sharp  concrete  cases  which  more  than  once  brought 
us  near  to  the  breaking-point  with  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. 

When  war  broke  out  the  more  vocable  section  of  our 
nation  not  merely  declared  its  sympathy  with,  but  put  its 
money  on,  the  South.  The  aristocracy  and  gentry  of 
England,  in  taking  this  view,  felt  that  in  some  measure 
they  were  standing  by  "their  order."  The  "certain  conde- 
scension in  foreigners"  which  Lowell  detected  in  England 
carried  some  measure  of  active  dislike  against  Yankees, 
who  were  regarded  as  upstarts  and  whose  manners,  carica- 
tured by  Dickens  and  other  satirists,  were  judged  from 
their  least  worthy  representatives.  The  deep  human  signi- 
ficance of  the  slave  issue  was  skilfully  obscured  in  influential 

333 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

British  circles  by  Southern  appeals  to  sentiments  of  con- 
stitutional right,  and  even  in  higher  commercial  circles 
there  was  a  disposition  to  look  upon  the  troubles  of 
pushful  American  traders  with  a  spice  of  malicious  satis- 
faction. Most  of  our  influential  newspapers,  headed  by 
The  Times,  were  openly  pro-Southerner,  and  the  general 
opinion  that  spread  throughout  the  North  represented 
the  British  people  as  hostile  to  the  Union,  and  even  as 
likely  to  intervene  in  some  way  favourable  to  the  South, 
should  a  convenient  opportunity  arise.  This  kept  in 
existence  a  dangerously  sensitive  atmosphere  towards 
England  in  the  Northern  States,  and  the  knowledge  that 
active  intrigues  were  going  forward  both  in  Paris  and 
in  London  for  intervention  when  the  war  showed  signs 
of  turning  against  the  South,  seemed  to  give  power- 
ful confirmation  to  the  worst  interpretation  of  British 
sentiments. 

The  grave  episode  of  the  seizure  of  the  two  Southern 
Commissioners  on  the  Trent,  the  despatch  of  the  Southern 
raider,  the  Alabama,  from  an  English  port,  the  ill-fated 
expedition  to  Mexico,  in  which  this  country  took  part 
with  France  and  Spain  for  the  alleged  protection  of  their 
subjects,  and  above  all  the  havoc  inflicted  upon  British 
trade  by  the  blockade  of  New  Orleans  and  other  Southern 
ports,  afforded  plenty  of  inflammable  material. 

These  letters  to  Sumner  form  a  triumphant  vindica- 
tion of  the  charge  sometimes  brought  against  Cobden 
by  those  who  know  little  of  the  real  spirit  of  the  man, 
viz.  that  he  was  a  disparager  of  his  own  country.  In 
arguing  these  points  of  international  policy  and  law  with 
Sumner,  he  never  fails  to  protest  against  the  high- 
handedness and  disregard  for  precedent  to  which  a 
Government  fighting  for  its  existence  is  always  prone. 
His  strictures  upon  the  grave  irregularity  of  the  Trent 
affair,  his  exposition  of  the  sufferings  imposed  upon  the 

334 


The   Civil    War  and  the    Sumner   Letters 

people  of  Lancashire  by  the  severities  of  the  blockade, 
his  pressure  of  the  distinction  to  be  drawn  between  the 
fitting  out  of  privateers  and  the  trade  in  munitions,  will 
satisfy  the  severest  tests  of  patriotism.  Nowhere  did 
Cobden  fail  at  this  grave  juncture  in  supporting  what 
history  has  recognized  as  the  legitimate  interests  of  his 
country.  The  whole  correspondence  may  be  cited  as  the 
supreme  example  of  that  moderation  and  fair-mindedness 
which  throughout  his  career  were  his  distinctive  qualities. 
For  English  readers,  his  judicious  analysis  of  the  changes 
which  public  opinion  in  this  country  underwent  regarding 
the  merits  of  the  struggle  and  the  prospects  of  the  issue 
is  even  to-day  of  great  value.  On  the  other  hand,  his 
strong  insistence  on  the  service  rendered  by  our  people 
and  our  Government  in  rejecting  the  French  proposals 
for  intervention  must  have  exercised  an  exceedingly 
valuable  influence  in  allaying  the  mistrust  of  our  policy 
sown  early  in  the  war  by  the  foolish  utterances  of  some 
of  our  prominent  public  men.  The  consistent  support 
rendered  by  Cobden  and  Bright  to  the  Northern  cause, 
and  the  evidence  they  adduced  to  show  that  the  demo- 
cracy of  Britain  was  heart  and  soul  with  the  Union,  went 
far  to  help  establish  those  better  relations  which  from 
that  time  to  this  have  existed  between  the  two  great 
English-speaking  nations. 

The  collection  of  letters  from  which  the  following 
selection  is  made  is  in  the  possession  of  the  College 
Library  of  Harvard.  Most  of  them  have  been  reprinted 
in  the  American  Historical  Review,  and  many  extracts 
have  appeared  in  Rhodes's  "  History  of  the  United 
States."  A  number  of  passages  are  given  in  Lord 
Morley's  "Life."  But  the  full  body  of  this  valuable 
material  (excluding  only  certain  letters  and  passages  of 
a  purely  personal  or  transitory  interest)  is  set  forth  here 
for  the  first  time  in  a  continuous  form. 

335 


Richard   Cobden  :   the    International   Man 


"March  9,  1848. 

"  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  thanks  for  your  kindness  in 
forwarding  me  a  copy  of  your  eloquent  appeal  in  behalf 
of  peace.  It  will  probably  be  in  my  power  to  profit  by 
your  facts  in  dealing  with  the  subject  of  our  armaments 
in  my  place  in  Parliament.  If  so,  I  shall  make  free  use 
of  your  materials  without  scruple.  Whilst  travelling  on 
the  Continent,  I  found  one  universal  feeling  of  discontent 
amongst  intelligent  men  at  the  enormous  expenditure 
everywhere  incurred  for  standing  armaments  ;  and,  Uto- 
pian as  the  idea  may  appear  to  the  men  of  routine,  such 
as  are  our  statesmen  and  diplomatists,  I  do  not  think  it 
would  be  difficult  for  any  one  of  the  large  Powers  of 
Europe  to  persuade  the  rest  to  enter  upon  a  career  of 
gradual  and  partial  disarmament.  The  difficulty  has  been 
to  find  a  Government  sincerely  bent  upon  such  a  humane 
and  enlightened  policy.  The  truth  is  that  hitherto  the 
Governments  of  Europe  have  maintained  their  armies  in 
times  of  peace  almost  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  defend- 
ing themselves  against  their  people  as  their  neighbours. 
But  after  the  proofs  which  have  been  given  lately  in 
Italy  and  France  that  soldiers  can  no  longer  be  relied 
upon  in  time  of  need  by  despotic  sovereigns  or  arbitrary 
ministers,  it  is  probable,  I  should  hope,  that  we  may  soon 
see  a  change  of  system  ;  for  surely  Governments  will 
begin  to  calculate  the  cost  of  these  useless  armed  retainers, 
whose  maintenance  causes  disaffection  to  the  overtaxed 
people  and  tends,  in  fact,  to  produce  the  very  rebellion 
which  they  were  intended  to  prevent,  but  which  now,  it 
is  found,  they  will  not  suppress.  This  is  at  least  a  great 
lesson  for  kings  and  princes,  and  is  perhaps  the  only  sure 
gain  from  the  last  French  Revolution  :  for  with  the 
highest  admiration  for  the  forbearance  of  the  Parisian 
populace  and  the  energy  of  the  Provisional   Government, 

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The   Civil    War  and  the    Sumner    Letters 

I    must    confess   that    I    do   not    feel   sanguine   about   the 
success  of  a  Republic  in   France.     Time  will  show." 

"  November  J,  1849. 
"You  will  have  seen  that  we  have  been  trying  to  lead 
this  wicked  O/d  World  into  a  new  and  hitherto  unknown 
path.  You  have  too  much  practical  knowledge  to  require 
to  be  told  by  me  that  our  Peace  Congress  and  public 
meetings  are  but  the  faint  glimmerings  of  a  new  light 
which  is  dawning  upon  the  nations,  and  that  we  do  not 
deceive  ourselves  with  the  belief  that  we  are  yet  near 
to  that  perfect  day  when  they  shall  learn  war  no  more. 
And  yet  I  think  the  last  two  years  (for  which  1  have  been 
co-operating  directly  in  the  Peace  agitation)  have  pro- 
duced visible  results.  The  first  fruits  of  a  discussion 
upon  great  principles  are  to  be  found  in  the  altered  tone 
of  your  opponents.  In  the  Peace  controversy  we  have 
brought  the  sneerers  into  serious  debate.  They  have 
been  compelled  to  take  up  their  position.  In  doing  so 
they  have  ceded  their  old  ground.  They  tell  us  that 
the  vast  armaments  of  Europe  are  not  now  maintained 
for  purposes  of  external  warfare,  but  to  maintain  order 
at  home.  This  is  a  damaging  admission,  for  it  converts 
the  army  into  a  gendarmerie,  and  robs  it  of  its  chivalry. 
It  moreover  tends  to  identify  it  with  tyranny  and  despot- 
ism, and  the  people,  which  sooner  or  later  is  stronger 
than  the  Government,  will  yearn  for  the  opportunity  to 
put  down  the  tyrants  and  their  tools,  both  together. 
There  is  henceforth  no  popularity  for  armies  in  Europe. 
For  the  present,  the  soldier  is  the  executive,  throughout 
the  Continent.  How  long  this  will  last,  or  how  it  is  to 
be  altered,  no  one  can  tell.  But  it  is  not  a  rash  prophecy 
to  say  it  cannot  endure  tor  ever.  The  financial  crisis 
which  hangs  over  the  Governments  warns  them  that  they 
are  in  only  a  provisional  state.     Whether  it  will  end  in 

337  y 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

the  demoralization  of  the  armies  from  irregular  pay,  or 
in  Governments  joining  the  people  to  get  rid  of  a  tyranny 
insupportable  to  both,  or  in  a  civil  war  between  different 
parties  in  the  army  and  rival  generals,  nobody  can  tell. 
In  all  probability  Europe  must  suffer  convulsions  and 
revolutions,  of  which  those  of  last  year  were  but  the 
feeble  skirmishings,  before  the  present  system  passes 
away.  You  may  have  observed  that  the  Peace  Party 
has  resolved  to  do  its  best  to  '  stop  the  supplies '  of  the 
Governments,  by  commencing  a  moral  crusade  against 
the  system  of  foreign  loans.  In  proportion  as  we  succeed 
in  this,  we  shall  drive  the  bankrupt  rulers  back  upon 
their  own  subjects  for  the  pecuniary  means  necessary  for 
their  own  subjection.  This  plan  will  do  more  than 
anything  besides  to  hasten  the  financial  crisis  which  must 
precede  any  essential  change.  I  have  said  that  our 
opponents  admit  that  there  is  no  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  European  nations  to  enter  upon  wars  of  conquest 
or  aggression.  Conquest  of  territory  offers  no  prospect 
of  increased  power  to  any  Government.  On  the  con- 
trary, half  the  Powers  of  Europe  are  at  this  moment 
suffering  internal  throes  from  the  acquisition  of  fresh 
territory,  with  disaffected  races,  at  the  great  'settlement'  (!) 
of  1 8 1 5.  For  one  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the  day 
is  the  assumption,  on  the  part  of  the  peoples,  of  a  right 
to  a  choice  of  their  rulers  and  of  their  countrymen. 
Hence  the  struggle  of  nationalities  ;  hence  the  demand 
of  Venice,  Lombardy,  Hungary,  Poland,  Germany,  etc., 
to  be  left  to  rule  themselves  according  to  their  several 
likings.  Race,  religion,  language,  traditions,  etc.,  are 
becoming  bonds  of  union,  and  not  the  parchment  title- 
deeds  of  sovereigns.  These  instincts  may  be  thwarted 
for  the  day,  but  they  are  too  deeply  rooted  in  nature 
and  in  usefulness  not  to  prevail  in  the  end.  I  look  with 
less  interest  to  these  struggles  of  races  to  live  apart,  for 

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The   Civil    War  and   the    Sumner   Letters 

what  they  want  to  undo  than  for  what  they  will  prevent 
being  done  in  future.  They  will  warn  rulers  that  hence- 
forth the  acquisition  of  fresh  territory,  by  force  of  arms, 
will  only  bring  embarrassments  and  civil  war,  instead  of 
that  increased  strength  which,  in  ancient  times,  when 
people  were  passed  like  flocks  of  sheep  from  one  king 
to  another,  always  accompanied  the  incorporation  of 
new  territorial  conquests.  This  is  the  secret  of  the 
admitted  doctrine  that  we  shall  have  no  more  wars  of 
conquest  or  ambition.  In  this  respect  you  are  differently 
situated,  having  vast  tracts  of  unpeopled  territory  to 
temper  that  cupidity  which,  in  respect  of  landed  property, 
always  disposes  individuals  and  nations,  however  rich  in 
acres,  to  desire  more. 

"  This  brings  me  to  the  subject  of  Canada,  to  which 
you  refer  in  your  letters.  I  agree  with  you  that 
Nature  has  decided  that  Canada  and  the  United  States 
must  become  one,  for  all  purposes  of  free  intercom- 
munication. Whether  they  also  shall  be  united  in  the 
same  Federal  Government  must  depend  upon  the  two 
parties  to  the  union.  I  can  assure  you  that  there  will 
be  no  repetition  of  the  policy  of  1776  on  our  part, 
to  prevent  our  North  American  Colonies  from  pursuing 
their  interests  in  their  own  way.  If  the  people  of 
Canada  are  tolerably  unanimous  in  wishing  to  sever 
the  very  slight  thread  which  now  binds  them  to  this 
country,  I  see  no  reason  why,  if  good  faith  and 
ordinary  temper  be  observed,  it  should  not  be  done 
amicably.  I  think  it  would  be  far  more  likely  to  be 
accomplished  peaceably  if  the  subject  of  annexation  were 
left  as  a  distinct  question.  I  am  quite  sure  that  we 
should  be  gainers,  to  the  amount  of  about  a  million 
sterling  annually,  if  our  North  American  colonists 
would  set  up  in  life  for  themselves  and  maintain  their 
own  establishments,  and  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt    that 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

they  might  be  also  gainers  by  being  thrown  upon  their 
own  resources.  The  less  your  countrymen  mingle  in 
the  controversy  the  better.  It  will  only  be  an  ad- 
ditional obstacle  in  the  path  of  those  in  this  country 
who  see  the  ultimate  necessity  of  a  separation,  but  who 
have  still  some  ignorance  and  prejudice  to  contend 
against,  which,  if  used  as  political  capital  by  design- 
ing politicians,  may  complicate  seriously  a  very  difficult 
piece  of  statesmanship.  It  is  for  you,  and  such  as 
you,  who  love  peace,  to  guide  your  countrymen  aright 
in  this  matter.  You  have  made  the  most  noble  con- 
tributions of  any  modern  writer  to  the  cause  of  peace, 
and,  as  a  public  man,  I  hope  you  will  exert  all  your 
influence  to  induce  Americans  to  hold  a  dignified 
attitude,  and  observe  a  l  masterly  inactivity,'  in  the 
controversy  which  is  rapidly  advancing  to  a  solution 
between  the  Mother  Country  and  her  American 
Colonies." 

Two  letters  with  a  more  personal  bearing  follow. 
Then  opens  the  important  series  dealing  with  issues  of 
the  Civil  War. 

"  June  16,  1856. 
"  I  am  tempted  to  write  to  express  to  you  the 
feelings  of  sympathy  and  indignation  with  which,  in 
common  with  everybody  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
I  have  heard  of  the  dastardly  and  brutal  attack  made 
upon  you.1  These  feelings  are  not  unmingled  with 
dismay  at  perceiving  that  there  are  parties  and  com- 
munities in  your  country  who  seem  to  give  a  deliberate 
sanction  through  the  Press  to  the  use  of  the  bludgeon 
as  a   mode  of  replying  to  the  arguments  of  a  political 

1  After  a  powerful  speech  in  the  Senate  on  the  Kansas  pro-slavery 
question,  Mr.  Sumner  was  violently  assaulted  in  the  Senate  house 
by  a  South  Carolina  Congress  man  named  Brooks,  who  struck  a 
series  of  blows  from  behind  with  a  cudgel,  rendering  him  unconscious. 

340 


The   Civil    War   and    the  Sumner  Letters 

opponent.  Why,  there  is  nothing  so  bad  as  this  in 
Austria  or  Italy  !  PYeedom  of  debate  is  the  very 
breath  of  representative  government,  and  if  you  cannot 
preserve  that  right,  not  merely  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  Executive,  but  the  terrorism  of  a  ruffianly 
party  in  your  own  ranks,  your  boasted  liberty  will 
become  a  very  vulgar  and  degrading  despotism  in  the 
eyes  of  other  nations.  But  I  do  not  for  a  moment 
doubt  that  the  unmistakable  expression  of  public 
opinion  will  put  down  at  once  and  for  ever  this 
attempt  at  the  worst  of  all  usurpations,  that  of  the 
cudgel  and  revolver.  Let  me  entreat  you  not  under 
any  amount  of  provocation  to  so  far  forget  your 
self-respect  as  to  descend  to  the  use  of  the  weapons  of 
your  assailants.  You  have  given  far  too  many  proofs 
of  moral  heroism  to  require  that  you  should  assert 
the  possession  of  that  very  vulgar  attribute  of  physical 
courage  which  we  all  share  with  the  lower  animals, 
though  to  an  inferior  degree  than  some  of  them.  For 
the  rest,  your  political  opponents  (they  who  identify 
themselves  with  your  assailant)  have  by  this  act  done 
more  than  you  could  have  ever  accomplished  to  con- 
vince the  world  of  the  hopelessness  of  their  cause. 
Heaven  has  evidently  given  them  over  to  that  mad- 
ness which  heralds  the  fall  of  parties  more  than  of 
individuals." 

"  May  i,  i860. 
"  I  cannot  help  looking  with  some  interest  to  your 
coming  election,  though  I  confess  I  cannot  feel  all 
the  sympathy  I  could  wish  for  your  party — as  I 
suppose  I  must  call  the  Republicans.  Your  probable 
candidate,  Mr.  Seward,  did  not  please  me,  when  I 
was  in  America,  with  a  speech  in  which  he  declared 
himself    opposed     to    the    policy    of    building    railroads 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

with  foreign  iron  over  your  own  coal  and  iron  beds.  I 
suppose  this  was  merely  intended  for  Mr.  Bunkum 
in  Pennsylvania,  but  I  don't  like  it  any  better  for 
that.  I  must  own  that  this  gentleman  did  not  make 
so  great  a  mark  on  society  in  England  as  some  of 
your  other  distinguished  visitors  have  done.  Remem- 
ber me  to  your  colleague  Mr.  Wilson,  and,  if  you  can 
talk  to  Southern  men,  do  the  same  to  Mr.  Mason, 
Mr.  Benjamin,  and  Mr.   Hunter." 

"  February  28,  1 86 1. 

?■•  The  conduct  of  the  South  has  disgusted  everybody. 
I  do  not  mean  their  desire  to  disunite — that  they  may 
have  a  right  to  do,  and  it  may  be  for  the  interest  of 
all  parties.  But  they  have  shown  a  measure  of  pas- 
sionate haste  and  unreasoning  arrogance  which  has 
astonished  and  alienated  all  lookers-on.  They  have 
gone  about  the  work  of  dissolving  the  Union  with 
less  gravity  or  forethought  than  a  firm  of  intelligent 
drapers  or  grocers  would  think  necessary  in  case  of  a 
dissolution  of  partnership." 

"November  27,  1861. 

"I  say  not  one  word  about  your  troubles.  Cut  bono? 
I  made  a  vow  during  the  Crimean  War  that  if  ever 
another  war  broke  out  between  England  and  any  other 
Power  I  would  not  utter  a  word  with  a  view  of 
shortening  its  duration,  for  reason  and  argument  are 
lost  in  the  clash  of  armed  men,  whose  struggle  can 
only  be  concluded  by  the  exhaustion  of  one  or 
both  parties.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  in  reading  out- 
history  how  utterly  unavailing  was  the  eloquence  of 
Chatham  and  Burke  to  stay  our  war  with  the  American 
Colonies,  and  how  completely  the  efforts  of  Fox  and 
his    friends  were    thrown  away  in  attempting    to    put  a 

342 


The    Civil    War    and   the   Sumner    Letters 

stop  to  the  War  of  the  French  Revolution  ?  You 
need  not,  however,  doubt  how  much  I  sympathize 
with  the  North.  My  respect  and  admiration  for  your 
free  States  is  so  great  that  I  have  regretted  you  did 
not  let  the  vile  incubus  of  slavery  slip  off  your  back. 
And  yet  I  confess  the  almost  insuperable  difficulty  of 
making  two  nations  of  the  United  States.  The 
geographical  obstacles  alone  seem  insurmountable. 

"My  object  in  writing  to  you  is  with  a  view  to  the 
future  rather  than  the  present.  The  maritime  law  of 
nations  requires  alteration,  and  I  hope  the  result  of 
this  war  will  be  to  lead  to  the  abolition  of  blockades, 
as  well  as  to  make  private  property  as  safe  against 
capture  by  armed  vessels  on  sea  as  it  is  by  armed 
regiments  on  land. 

"  Upon  this  subject  there  has  been  some  correspon- 
dence between  your  late  Government  and  Mr.  Mason, 
your  representative  at  Paris,  which  I  should  like  to 
see.  If  you  will  be  good  enough  to  refer  to  Hansard, 
February  18,  1861,  p.  496,  you  will  see  that  Lord 
John  Russell  refers  to  a  despatch  written  by  General 
Cass  to  Mr.  Mason  at  Paris,  and  read  to  him  (Lord 
John)  by  Mr.  Dallas.  I  have  tried  both  at  the 
London  and  Paris  Embassies  to  obtain  a  sight  of  this 
despatch,  but  it  is  against  their  instructions  to  allow 
it  to  be  seen.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  let  me  have 
a  copy,  or  at  least  know  the  purport  of  this  despatch. 

"  PS.  Since  writing  the  accompanying,  we  have  the 
news  of  the  capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell  in  our 
packet- vessel.  You  may  be  right  in  point  of  law, 
though  perhaps,  in  technical  strictness,  the  lawyers 
may  pick  a  hole.  But  I  am  satisfied  you  are  wrong  in 
■point  of  policy.  There  is  an  impression,  /  know,  in 
high  quarters  here  that  Mr.  Seward  wishes  to  quarrel 
with    this    country.      This    seems    absurd    enough.      I 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

confess  I  have  as  little  confidence  in  him  as  I  have  in 
Lord  Palmerston.  Both  will  consult  Bunkum  for  the 
moment,  without  much  regard,  I  fear,  for  the  future. 
You  must  not  lose  sight  of  this  view  of  the  relations 
of  the  two  countries.  Formerly  England  feared  a  war 
with  the  United  States  as  much  from  the  dependence 
on  your  cotton  as  from  a  dread  of  your  power.  Now 
the  popular  opinion  (however  erroneous)  is  that  a  war 
would  give  us  cotton.  And  we,  of  course,  consider 
your  power  weakened  by  your  Civil  War.  I  speak  as 
a  friend  of  peace  and  not  as  a  partisan  of  my  own 
country  in  wishing  you  to  bear  this  in  mind.  If  Mr. 
Seward  relies  on  the  Irish  element,  he  may  be  misled, 
as  others  have  been. 

"  Now  with  regard  to  our  conduct  towards  your 
nation — I  mean  our  conduct  as  a  government  and 
people — I  do  not  think  it  has  been  such  as  to  warrant 
any  resentment  on  your  side.  Considering  our  vital 
stake,  we  have  borne  the  blockade  with  more  temper 
and  moderation  than  I  should  have  expected.  As  for 
the  Press,  let  the  London  Times  and  the  New  York 
Herald  pair  off,  and  the  account  is  balanced.  We  have 
nothing  so  bad  as  to  be  paired  against  your  Petersburg 
Minister's  speeches  and  letters  since  he  came  to 
Europe,  of  which  there  has  been  no  official  disavowal 
on   your  part." 

"  November  29,  1 861. 
"  I  am  induced  to  write  another  letter  from  London, 
where  I  have  come  for  a  day  or  two,  owing  to  the 
turn  the  question  of  the  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell 
seems  to  be  taking.  I  hear  that  the  Law  Officers  of 
the  Crown  have  decided  that  you  are  not  within  the 
law  in  what  has  been  done.  I  leave  your  lawyers  to 
answer    ours.     The   question  of   legality,   in    matters  of 

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The    Civil    War   and   the    Sumner    Letters 

international  law,  has  never  been  very  easily  settled. 
However,  the  only  danger  to  the  peace  of*  the  two 
countries  is  in  the  temper  which  may  grow  out  of  this 
very  trivial  incident.  The  Press  will  as  usual  try  to 
envenom  the  affair.  It  is  for  us,  and  all  who  care 
for  the  interests  of  humanity,  to  do  our  utmost  to 
thwart  these  mischief-makers.  You  may  reckon  on 
Bright,  myself  and  all  our  friends  being  alert  and 
active  in  this  good  work,  and  we  reckon  on  the  co- 
operation of  yourself  and  all  who  sympathize  with  you. 
Though  I  said  in  my  other  letter  that  I  shall  never 
care  to  utter  a  word  about  the  merits  of  a  war  after 
it  has  begun,  I  do  not  less  feel  it  my  duty  to  try  to 
prevent   hostilities  occurring. 

"  Let  me  here  remark  that  I  cannot  understand  how 
you  should  have  thought  it  worth  your  while  at 
Washington  to  have  reopened  this  question  of  the 
right  of  search,  by  claiming  to  exercise  it  in  a  doubt- 
ful case  and  a  doubtful  manner,  under  circumstances 
which  could  be  of  so  little  advantage,  and  to  have 
incurred  the  risk  of  greater  disadvantages.  The  cap- 
ture of  Mason  and  Slidell  can  have  little  effect  in 
discouraging  the  South,  compared  with  the  indirect 
encouragement  and  hope  it  may  hold  out  to  them  of 
embroiling  your  Government  with  England.  I  am 
speaking  with  reference  to  the  policy  and  leaving  out 
of  sight  the  law  of  the  case.  But  in  the  latter  view,  we 
are  rather  unprepared  to  find  you  exercising  in  a  strained 
manner  the  right  of  search,  inasmuch  as  you  have  been 
supposed  to  be  always  the  opponents  of  the  practice, 
I  was  under  the  impression  that  our  Government  was 
told  pretty  plainly  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Crimean 
War  that  it  would  be  risking  the  peace  of  this  country 
with  yours  if  we  claimed  the  right  of  search  in  the 
open  sea.     I  am  not  in  the  position  to  know  how  far  this 

345 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

was  the  case.  Can  you  tell  me  if  there  be  any  documents 
on  the  subject?  If  it  were  so,  we  should,  of  course, 
all  unite  in  holding  you  to  your  own  doctrine." 

"  December  3,  1861. 

"  I  wrote  you  two  letters  by  the  last  mail.  This 
steamer  will  take  out  a  report  of  Bright's  speech  ' 
and  my  letter  of  excuse  for  not  being  able  to  attend. 
You  will  see  that  we  stand  in  the  breach,  as  usual,  to 
stem  the  tide  of  passion.  But  you  know  that  we  don't 
represent  all  England  at  such  a  moment.  For  myself, 
I  may  say  that  never  were  people  so  willing  to  listen 
and  so  desirous  of  agreeing  with  me.  My  Paris  labours 
have  opened  such  a  trade  with  France  as  almost  to 
compensate  the  manufacturing  districts  for  the  loss  of 
your  market.  But  still,  on  this  Peace  question,  I  am 
somewhat  in  your  position  in  the  matter  of  slavery  : 
people  tolerate  my   '  crotchet,'    and    then    go  their  way. 

"  If  you  take  the  trouble  to  read  my  letter  to  the 
Mayor  of  Rochdale  you  will  observe  that  I  try  to  turn 
the  tide  by  showing  that  your  country  offered  to  relay 
these  absurd  maritime  laws,  and  that  we  were  the  obstacle. 
Nothing  is  so  calculated  to  cool  the  temper  of  the  public 
as  this  diversion.  And  I  again  beg  you  to  send  me 
copies  of  any  documents  or  despatches  which  have  not 
been  made  public  in  this  country.  For  instance,  on 
what  did  President  Pierce  found  his  statement,  in  his 
Message,  that  Russia  and  France  were  favourable  to 
the  plan  put  forth  by  Mr.  Marcy  for  exempting  private 
property  from  capture  by  all  armed  vessels  ?  Were  there 
any  despatches?  But  especially  I  wish  for  a  copy  of 
the  despatch  from  General  Cass  to  Mr.  Mason  referred  to 
by  Lord  John   Russell  in  the  House  on   February    1 8th 

1   Bright's   great   speech  at   Rochdale  in  July   1861,  espousing  the 
cause  of  the  North  and  denouncing  slavery. 

346 


The   Civil    War   and   the  Sumner    Letters 

last.  Was  there  any  despatch  from  Mr.  Mason  in  reply 
to  this,  stating  the  views  of  the  French  Government, 
and  any  from  Mr.  Dallas  giving  an  account  of  what 
passed  between  him  and  Lord  John  when  he  read  this 
despatch  to  him  ?  And  will  you  ascertain  for  me  from 
Mr.  Dallas  whether  he  left  a  copy  of  this  despatch  with 
Lord  Russell?  Now,  pray  hunt  up  every  document  of 
this  kind  for  me.  A  friend  writes  to  me  to-day  from 
London  to  remind  me  that  there  was  an  important 
correspondence  between  Mr.  Webster  and  Lord  Ashbur- 
ton,  after  the  Boundary  Treaty,  in  which  the  former 
proposes  to  abolish  the  right  of  search,  which  is  declined 
by  Lord  A.  in  the  name  of  our  Government.  I  can, 
of  course,  obtain  this  last  correspondence  here. 

"  We  are  in  much  suspense  as  to  what  your  Govern- 
ment will  do.  Some  of  my  friends  predict  one  of  two 
courses  :  either  that  you  will  offer  to  restore  matters 
to  the  status  quo,  on  the  agreement  that  the  question 
shall  be  decided  in  an  Admiralty  Court  of  the  United 
States,  or  that  you  will  offer  to  take  the  benefit  of  that 
declaration  at  the  Congress  of  Paris  in  favour  of 
Arbitration. 

"  Now,  having  premised  so  much,  I  shall  add  a  few 
words  of  unreserved  remark  on  the  '  situation.'  I  write 
to  you,  of  course,  in  confidence  ;  and  I  write  to  you 
what  I  would  not  write  to  any  other  American — nay,  what 
it  would  be  perhaps  improper  for  any  other  Englishman 
than  myself  to  utter  to  any  other  American  but  your- 
self. But  we  are,  I  think,  both  more  of  Christians  and 
Cosmopolitans  than  British  or  Yankee. 

"  You  will  see  a  new  feature  in  this  disagreeable  matter 
in  the  ardour  with  which  the  French  Press  takes  up 
the  cry  against  you.  Some  of  the  papers  most  eager 
to  push  us  to  extremities  are  those  which  are  conducted 
by   parties   who   are    supposed    to   be   in    the   confidence 

347 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  the  Emperor.  Spending  as  I  did  eighteen  months 
in  France,  and  always  in  close  communication  with  the 
Emperor's  ablest  advisers,  and  frequently  having  very 
free  audiences  with  himself,  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  corner-stone  of  his  policy  was  friendship  with 
England.  He  has  studied  his  uncle's  life  with  the  view 
of  profiting  by  his  errors  as  well  as  his  example,  and 
he  knows  that  the  first  Napoleon  always  lamented  in 
his  exile  that  he  could  not  have  been  at  peace  with 
England.  To  preserve  this  friendship,  Louis  Napoleon 
has  borne  with  equanimity  attacks  from  our  Press  and 
public  men,  armed  defiance  from  our  successive  Govern- 
ments, and  insults  of  every  kind  towards  himself 
personally,  such  as  have  not  in  the  worst  of  times  been 
bandied  between  the  Press  and  *  tribunes '  of  England 
and  the  United  States.  To  preserve  this  friendship, 
I  believe  he  would  submit  to  anything  short  of  such 
a  humiliation  for  France  as  would  emperil  his  dynasty. 
It  is  to  preserve  this  friendship  that  he  has  sought 
our  alliance  in  the  Crimea,  in  China,  and  in  Mexico. 
And  if  I  were  asked  what  were  the  motives  which  led 
him  to  agree  to  the  Treaty  of  Commerce  with  me, 
I  should  say  that  they  were  nine-tenths  political,  rather 
than  politico-economical,  with  a  view  to  cement  the 
alliance  with  this  country.  /  leave  you  to  make  an 
application  of  these  facts  to  your  present  situation.  It 
was  because  I  knew  the  inner  policy  of  the  French 
Government  that  I  could  not  see  without  mortification 
and  disgust  the  shallow  antics  of  some  of  your  official 
representatives  in  Paris,  at  that  most  lamentable  public 
meeting  where  individuals,  accredited  by  your  Government, 
invited  the  Emperor  to  join  you  against  England  to 
avenge  Waterloo  and  St.  Helena  !  These  proceedings, 
not  having  led  to  the  recall  or  official  rebuke  of  the 
parties,   have   done  more  harm  in   this  country  than    all 

348 


The   Civil    War   and  the    Sumner   Letters 

the  ravings  of  your  Herald.  There  are  three  things 
which  have  given  our  Tory  Press  a  great  advantage 
in  exciting  animosity  against  you.  First,  Mr.  Seward's 
speech  in  the  Far  West  in  allusion  to  the  annexation  of 
Canada.  This,  coming  from  the  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  and  the  future  Prime  Minister,  had  a 
significance  for  Englishmen  which  you  can  appreciate. 
Second,  Mr.  Seward's  circular  holding  out  a  threat  to 
those  who  recognized  the  rebels,  and  speaking  with 
a  somewhat  bombastic  confidence  in  the  future  of  your 
country,  which  were  in  bad  taste,  and  not  compli- 
mentary, under  your  terrible  circumstances,  to  the 
intellect  of  the  writer  or  those  whom  he  addressed. 
"  I  think  I  told  you  in  my  last  that  I  felt  satisfied 
with  the  tone  of  forbearance  in  this  country  respecting 
your  blockade.  Hardly  a  paper  or  public  man  has 
hinted  at  such  a  measure  as  breaking  the  blockade  until 
this  Trent  affair.  Last  August,  Mr.  Sandford  from 
Brussels  called  on  me  in  London,  and  asked  me  my 
private  opinion  whether  I  thought  the  blockade  would 
be  borne,  and  I  told  him  that  though  I  should  be  found 
to  the  last  on  the  side  of  legality,  cost  what  it  might, 
I  hoped  the  endurance  of  Europe  would  not  be  put 
to  the  test.  I  must  at  the  same  time  remark  that  there 
is  a  universal  impression  that  a  war  with  the  North  would 
give  us  the  cotton — to  which  I  have  alluded  in  a  contrary 
sense  in  my  letter  to  Rochdale.  From  all  that  I  hear 
from  France,  the  trade  of  that  country  is  dreadfully 
damaged,  and  /  feel  convinced  the  Emperor  -would  be 
supported  by  his  people  if  he  were  to  enter  into  alliance 
with  England  to  abolish  the  blockade  and  recognize  the 
South.  The  French  are  inconvenienced  in  many  ways 
by  your  blockade,  and  especially  in  their  relations  with 
New  Orleans,  which  are  more  important  to  them  in 
exports  than  to  us. 

349 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"  For  ourselves  in  England,  in  spite  of  the  bluster 
of  The  Times,  the  majority  are  anxious  for  peace.  Do 
not  overrate  the  power  of  The  Times.  Seven  years  ago 
it  had  a  monopoly  of  publicity.  Now  its  circulation  is 
not  perhaps  one-tenth  of  the  daily  Press.  The  Star 
and  Manchester  Examiner,  two  admirable  papers,  circulate 
far  more  than  The  Times.  But  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  great  motives  of  hope  and  fear  which  kept  us  at 
peace  and  inclined  the  English  Government  always  to 
recede  in  pinching  controversies  with  you  are  gone. 
The  English  people  have  no  sympathy  with  you  on 
either  side.  You  know  how  ignorant  we  are  on  the 
details  of  your  history,  geography,  constitution,  etc. 
There  are  two  subjects  on  which  we  are  unanimous 
and  fanatical — personal  freedom  and  Free  Trade.  These 
convictions  are  the  result  of  fifty  years  of  agitation  and 
discussion.  In  your  case  we  observe  a  mighty  quarrel  : 
on  one  side  protectionists,  on  the  other  slave-owners. 
The  protectionists  say  they  do  not  seek  to  put  down 
slavery.  The  slave-owners  say  they  want  Free  Trade. 
Need  you  wonder  at  the  confusion  in  John  Bull's  poor 
head  ?  He  gives  it  up  !  Leaves  it  to  the  Government. 
Which  Government,  by  the  way,  is  the  most  friendly 
to  your  Government,  that  could  be  found  in  England, 
for,  although  Palmerston  is  fond  of  hot  water,  he  boasts 
that  he  never  got  us  into  a  serious  war.  As  for  his 
colleagues,  they  are  all  sedate,  peaceable  men. 

"  God  bless  us.     '  A  mad  world,  my  masters ' ! ' 

"  December  6,  1861. 
"Since  writing  my  letter  of  yesterday's  date  I  have 
read  General  Scott's  admirable  letter.  It  contains  a 
passage  to  the  following  effect  :  'I  am  sure  that  the 
President  and  people  of  the  United  States  would  be 
but    too   happy    to    let    these    men    go    free,    unnatural 

350 


The   Civil    War   and   the  Sumner  Letters 

and  unpardonable  as  their  offences  have  been,  if  by 
it  they  could  emancipate  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
Greatly  as  it  would  be  to  our  disadvantage  at  this 
present  crisis  to  surrender  any  of  those  maritime 
privileges  of  belligerents  which  are  sanctioned  by  the 
law  of  nations,  I  feel  that  I  take  no  responsibility  in 
saying  that  the  United  States  will  be  faithful  to  her 
traditional  policy  upon  this  subject,  and  to  the  spirit 
of  her  political  institutions.' 

"  Upon  this  text  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words,  and  I 
only  regret  that  I  could  not  present  myself  personally 
to  talk  the  matter  over  with  you.  It  appears  to  me 
that  there  is  a  great  idea  in  his  suggestion,  worthy  of 
the  renowned  sagacity  of  its  author.  If  I  were  in 
the  position  of  your  Government,  I  would  act  upon  it, 
and  thus,  by  a  great  strategic  movement,  turn  the  flank 
of  the  European  Powers,  especially  of  the  governing 
class  of  England.  I  would  propose  to  let  Mason  and 
Slidell  go  free,  and  stipulate  at  the  same  time  for  a 
complete  abandonment  of  the  old  code  of  maritime 
law  as  upheld  by  England  and  the  European  Powers. 
I  would  propose  that  private  property  at  sea  should 
be  exempt  from  capture  by  armed  Government  ships. 
On  this  condition  I  would  give  in  my  adhesion  to 
the  abolition  of  privateering.  I  would  propose  that 
neutral  merchant  vessels  in  time  of  war,  as  in  time 
of  peace,  should  be  exempt  from  search,  visitation, 
or  detention,  by  armed  Government  vessels,  when  on 
the  ocean  or  high  seas.  I  mean  when  beyond  that 
distance  from  the  shore  which  removes  them  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  any  maritime  State. 

**  I  would  propose  to  abolish  blockades  of  purely 
commercial  ports,  excepting  for  articles  contraband  of 
war. 

"  The   first  objection  that  might  arise  in    your    mind 

351 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

to    this    programme    is — it    would    relieve     the    South 
from    the    pressure    of    the    blockade.      But    is    not   the 
pressure   becoming   greater    on    the    North  ?      Have    you 
not  the  consciousness  at  Washington  that  this  unnatural 
interruption   of   commerce  will    in  less  than  six  months 
from  this  time  bring  all  Europe  to  your  door  demanding 
entrance  ?      Recollect    that    the    state    of   things  will    be 
wholly  without  a  precedent   for  urgency  and    peril.     It 
will    be    a    question    of   the    peace,    and    very  existence, 
of   many    millions  of   people,   and     the    supreme    neces- 
sity   of    the    case    will    sanctify  in    the    opinion    of  the 
whole  of  Europe  an  intervention  for    which,    you    may 
be    sure,   an    excuse    will    not   be    wanting.     Ask    your- 
selves   deliberately    what    is     the    greatest    danger    that 
presents    itself   for    the    next   six    months,  and  you  will 
be  compelled    to    admit    that    it    is    the    interference    of 
Europe,     driven    by    the     necessities    of    a    social    and 
political  crisis.      Can   you  be  sure  that  in  one  winter  you 
can  subdue  the  South  ?     If  not,  when  summer  approaches, 
you  must  withdraw  your  armies  from  that  coast,  which 
will    be  pronounced    by  Europe    a  retreat.     The    South 
knows  this,  and  knows  that  the  great  Powers  of  Europe 
are    standing    ready  for    an  excuse   to  declare    its    inde- 
pendence.      This   encourages  resistance. 

"  But  assuming  that  you  abolish  the  blockade,  you 
retain  the  power  of  preventing  the  introduction  of 
munitions  of  war.  Such  a  blockade  would  require  fewer 
ships,  and  it  would  relieve  a  part  of  your  force  for 
direct  military  operations.  The  South  would  get  some 
gold.  But  it  would  not  get  cannon,  or  rifles,  or  powder, 
and  the  other  munitions  of  war.  It  would  be  still  in 
the  same  want  of  mechanical  and  industrial  resources. 
It  would,  in  fact,  be  in  the  same  comparative  barbarism 
as  at  present. 

"In   a    word,    all    that    the   North    wants    is   time   to 

352 


The   Civil    War   and  the   Sumner    Letters 

ensure  its  triumph  over  the  South.  With  ti?ne,  Slavery, 
if  shut  up  within  itself,  will  be  its  own  destroyer. 
And  the  only  way  in  which  you  can  have  time  is  by 
abolishing  the  blockade. 

"  You  must  know  our  political  organization  too  well 
here  in  England  to  suppose  that  these  propositions 
would  be  acceptable  to  our  Government.  We  are,  in 
ordinary  times,  two  nations :  a  busy  toiling  multitude, 
and  a  governing  class.  The  latter  would  be  most 
averse  to  this  revolution  in  maritime  law,  by  which  the 
pretence  for  vast  armaments  would  be  annihilated.  The 
favourite  plea  when  we  vote  the  Navy  Estimates  is  that 
they  are  necessary  for  the  protection  of  commerce.  It 
would  be  useless,  therefore,  for  you  to  propose  these 
changes  through  the  channels  of  secret  diplomacy.  It 
must  be  done  publicly.  I  have  said  that  in  ordinary 
quiet  times  we  are  ruled  by  a  governing  class.  But 
when  a  sufficient  motive  is  presented  to  induce  the 
busy  millions  to  exert  their  power,  they  can  always 
bring  the  aristocracy  into  subjection  to  their  will.  Now, 
if  it  were  publicly  announced  that  you  had  made  the 
above  proposals  to  our  Government,  I  will  engage  that 
our  mercantile  and  manufacturing  community  will  compel 
this  Ministry,  or  some  other,  to  accept  them.  Our 
Parliament  will,  I  suppose,  meet  at  the  end  of  January, 
or  certainly  the  beginning  of  February.  Before  that 
time  your  decision  ought  to  be  known,  in  order  that 
our  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  great  trading  bodies 
may  have  time  to  make  their  wishes  known  to  the 
Government. 

44  Now,  understand  me,  I  have  not  considered  myself 
speaking  in  the  character  of  a  foreigner,  and  therefore  do 
not  let  my  language  seem  to  be  a  menace.  I  am  a  better 
American  than  many  of  the  citizens  you  send  to  Europe 
to  discredit  their  institutions.     Recollect  how  immensely 

353  z 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

you  would  gain  in  moral  power  by  leading  old  Europe 

in  the  path  of   civilization.     You    owe  it  to  yourselves 

and   us." 

"  December  12,  1  86 1 . 

<4 1  am  afraid  that  we  in  England  who  are  well-wishers 
to  the  North  take  a  more  accurate  measure  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  your  position  than   you  who  are  in  the  heat  of 
the  turmoil  can  do — just  as  you  took,  a  more  correct  view 
of  the  Crimean  War,  and  its  utter  uselessness,  than  the 
bulk  of  Englishmen  did.     We  do  not  believe  that  the 
subjection   of  the    South    can    be    a  speedy  achievement. 
Nobody  doubts  the  power  of  the  North,  ultimately,  if 
it   choose  to   make  the  sacrifice,  to  ruin   the  South,  and 
even  to  occupy  its  chief  places.     But  this  will  take  a  very 
long   time,   and    the  world   will   not   look  on,   I   believe, 
patient  sufferers  during  the  process.     I  am  not  justifying 
any  interference  on  the  part  of  Europe ;  but  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  have  the  whole  civilized  world  undergoing  priva- 
tions and  sufferings  which    they  lay  at  the   door  of  the 
North,  thus  making  it  the  interest  of  their  Governments 
to  interfere  with  you.     Recollect  that  your  own  Govern- 
ment has    condemned    blockades   of   purely   commercial 
ports  ;  the  world  has  in  truth  outgrown  them.     During 
the  Crimean   War,  whilst   we  blockaded   Cronstadt  with 
our  ships,   we  connived    at    the    importation   of  Russian 
tallow,   hemp,    flax,  etc.,   overland   through  Prussia,  our 
own  manufacturers  openly  declaring  that  they  must  have 
those  raw  materials.     /  do  not  believe  there  will  ever  be 
another  blockade.      The  state  of   modern  society,   where 
you  have  millions  of  labourers  in  Europe  depending  for 
the   means  of  employment  on  the  regular  supply  of  raw 
materials  brought  from  another  continent,  to  say  nothing 
of  hundreds  of  millions  of  capital  invested  on  the  same 
dependence,    will     necessitate    a    change     in    the    law    of 
blockade  and  other  belligerent  rules.     Our  recent  doc- 

354 


The   Civil    War   and    the  Sumner    Letters 

trines,  on  which  you  have  also  acted,  with  reference  to 
China  and  Japan,  denying  them  the  right  of  shutting  up 
themselves  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  are  symptoms  of 
the  same  tendency  of  men's  minds.  I  do  not,  I  repeat, 
say  that  the  rest  of  the  world  has  the  right  to  force  you 
to  raise  your  blockade.  But  I  do  think  you  ought  to 
consider  these  tendencies  of  the  world's  opinion,  and 
how  much  you  are  acting  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  of 
the  age  ;  and  above  all,  in  your  present  state,  weigh  well 
the  danger  of  putting  yourself  in  the  dilemma  of  making 
all  the  world  your  enemies.  The  recognition  of  the 
independence  of  the  South,  and  the  forcing  of  the 
blockade,  will  come  to  be  viewed,  about  next  March, 
as  a  matter  of  life  and  death  by  many  millions  of  people 
in  Europe,  and  as  a  question  of  high  political  urgency  by 
the  most  powerful  Governments  of  the  world.  There  is 
another  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind.  We,  in  England,  have 
ready  a  fleet  surpassing  in  destructive  force  any  naval 
armament  the  world  ever  saw,  exceeding  greatly  the 
British  Navy  in  the  great  French  War  in  1810.  This 
force  has  been  got  up  under  false  pretences.  There  is  always 
a  desire  on  the  part  of  Governments  to  use  such  arma- 
ments by  way  of  proving  that  they  were  necessary. 
France  was  the  pretence,  and  now  we  have  plenty  of 
people  who  would  be  content  to  see  this  fleet  turned 
against  you.  Coming  from  me,  who  have  resolutely 
opposed  this  armament,  this  will  not  be  considered  a 
menace. 

"  Have  you  considered  how  easy  it  will  be  to  find  a 
flaw  in  your  blockade  ?  In  the  Declaration  of  Paris  in 
1856,  Art.  4,  it  is  said  :  'Blockades,  in  order  to  be 
binding,  must  be  effective  ;  that  is  to  say,  maintained  by 
a  force  sufficient  really  to  prevent  access  to  the  coast  of  the 
enemy'  How  very  easy  it  will  be  to  prove  that  along 
your  thousands  of  miles  of  coast  access  is  possible. 

355 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"Now  a  word  upon  the  military  view  of  the  matter. 
Do  you  believe  that  the  privation  of  comforts  and  luxuries 
ever  brought  a  people  to  subjection?  Where  have  you 
an  instance  ?  Look  at  your  own  shoeless  people  during 
our  blockade  of  your  coasts  in  1780  ;  did  they  feel  more 
inclined  to  submit  because  their  garments  were  in  rags  ? 
On  the  contrary,  it  becomes  the  more  a  point  of  honour 
not  to  yield.  Even  in  the  blockade  of  a  garrisoned  town, 
it  would  be  considered  disgraceful  to  yield  for  anything 
short  of  starvation— unless  the  garrison  were  stormed,  or 
reduced  by  artillery  and  regular  siege  operations.  Now, 
I  need  not  tell  you  how  impossible  it  is  to  starve  the 
South.  They  have  food  enough,  and  as  they  are  dimin- 
ishing the  production  of  cotton,  they  will  next  year  have 
a  superabundance  of  corn,  beef,  pork,  rice,  sugar,  whisky 
and  tobacco.  Did  a  people  ever  yield  to  a  blockade  that 
possessed  these  necessaries,  because  they  were  deprived  of 
tea,  wine  and  coffee  ?  Would  it  not  be  unmanly  to 
think  of  it  ? 

"  Is  there  not  another  side  to  this  blockade  ?  Does  it 
not,  in  a  certain  sense,  aid  the  other  party  ?  So  long  as 
all  foreign  trade  is  cut  off  it  gives  an  excuse  to  those  who 
are  in  debt  not  to  pay  (and  who  in  the  South  is  not  in 
debt  ?).  Nobody  can  press  for  payment  even  from  those 
who  are  able  to  pay,  so  long  as  the  blockade  furnishes 
a  patriotic  excuse  for  suspending  all  payments.  Every- 
body is  therefore  relieved  from  pressure.  Meantime  the 
blockade  increases  the  bitterness  against  the  North.  But, 
above  all,  does  it  not  encourage  the  South  to  hope  for 
foreign  interference  ?  Then,  the  negroes  being  with- 
drawn from  the  cultivation  of  cotton  makes  labour  more 
available  for  defensive  works.  And  the  whites,  having 
no  profitable  occupation,  turn  out  to  fight.  These  are 
points  worth   your  consideration. 

11  There  appear  to  me  only  two  ways  in  which  you  can 

356 


The    Civil    War   and    the   Sumner    Letters 

expect  to  subdue  the  South  :  either  by  great  military 
operations  in  the  field,  or  by  a  sort  of  armed  truce  by 
which  you  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  South,  but  take 
your  own  time  to  wear  out  your  adversary,  leaving  it 
to  slavery  to  do  its  work  for  you.  But  either  of  these 
courses  must  take  a  long  time.  As  for  your  expeditions 
along  the  coast,  you  must  withdraw  the  Northern  troops 
next  summer,  or  they  will  share  the  fate  of  our  Wal- 
cheren  Expedition.  The  South  know  this,  and  of  course 
reckon  on  it.  The  great  Napoleon,  in  his  correspondence 
with  his  brother  Joseph,  seems  to  treat  with  contempt 
these  coasting  expeditions.  If  you  are  to  rely  on  great 
operations  in  the  field,  it  is,  of  course,  desirable  that  you 
should  not  be  hurried  forward  from  the  necessity  of  doing 
something  to  meet  the  impatience  of  foreign  Powers. 
You  are  thus  liable  to  be  tempted  to  precipitate  measures. 

"  By  raising  the  blockade,  except  for  articles  contra- 
band of  war,  you  get  rid  of  all  pressure  from  abroad,  and 
the  tone  of  public  feeling  in  Europe  would  naturally 
become  favourable  to  the  North.  //  is  the  suffering  and 
misery  that  your  blockade  is  bringing  on  the  masses  in  Europe 
that  turns  men  against  you.  How  can  you  hope  to  have 
a  blessing  on  your  cause  from  those  on  whom  you  are 
inflicting  such   misery  ? 

"As  respects  the  question  of  smuggling  goods  through 
Southern  ports  into  the  North,  your  only  remedy  is  to 
put  on  duties  strictly  for  revenue  in  the  North — duties, 
I  mean,  from  10  to  20  per  cent.  If  you  cannot  do  this 
— if  your  Congress  will  have  '  Protection  '  for  the 
North  and  war  with  the  South,  God  help  your  people 
that  have  two  such  burdens  to  bear.  Your  finances  will 
soon  be  on  a  par  with  those  of  Austria.  And  all  this  for 
a  mere  chimera !  For  it  is  demonstrable  that  New 
England  and  Pennsylvania  would  be  more  prosperous 
with  moderate  revenue  duties. 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  Internationa]  Man 

"  The  Times  and  its  yelping  imitators  are  still  doing 
their  worst,  but  there  is  a  powerful  moderate  party-  I 
hope  you  will  offer  promptly  to  arbitrate  the  question. 
There  is  one  point  on  which  you  must  absolutely  define  your 
platform.  You  must  acknowledge  the  South  as  belligerents  to 
give  you  a  standing  ground  on  the  '  Trent '  affair.  Some  of 
your  newspapers  argue  that  you  have  a  right  to  carry  off 
a  rebel  from  an  English  vessel — which  means  that  Austria 
might  have  seized  Kossuth  under  similar  circumstances. 
Were  you  to  take  such  ground  there  would  be  war." 

"  December  19,  1861. 

"  Everybody  tells  me  that  war  is  inevitable,  and  yet 
I  do  not  believe  in  war.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that 
there  are  things  said  and  done  on  your  side  that  make  it 
very  difficult  for  the  advocates  of  peace  on  this  side  to 
keep  the  field.  We  can  get  over  the  sayings  of  your 
Herald  that  '  France  will  not  and  England  dare  not  go 
to  war.'     Your  newspapers  will   not  drive  us  into  war. 

"  But  when  grave  men  (or  men  that  should  be  grave), 
holding  the  highest  post  in  your  cultivated  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, compliment  Captain  Wilkes  for  having  given 
an  affront  to  the  British  Lion,  it  makes  it  very  hard  for 
Bright  and  me  to  contend  against  the  British  Lion  Party 
in  this  country.  All  I  can  say  is  that  1  hope  you  have 
taken  Bright's  advice  and  offered  unconditional  arbitra- 
tion. With  that  offer  publicly  made,  the  friends  of  peace 
could  prevent  our  fire-eaters  from  assaulting  you,  always 
providing  that  your  public  speakers  do  not  put  it  out 
of  our   power  to  keep  the  peace. 

"  I  was  sorry  to  see  a  report  of  an  anti-English  speech 
by  your  colleague  at  New  York.  Honestly  speaking, 
and  with  no  blind  patriotism  to  mislead  me,  I  don't 
think  the  nation  here  behaved  badly  under  the  terrible 
evil  of  loss  of  trade  and  danger  of  starving  under  your 

358 


The   Civil    War   and  the    Sumner   Letters 

blockade.     Of  course,  all  privileged    classes  and  aristo- 
cracies   hate    your    institutions — that   is  natural    enough. 
But  the  mass  of  the  people  never  went  with  the  South. 
•  "  I  am  not  pleased  at  your  projects  for  sinking  stones 
to  block  up  ports  !     That   is  a   barbarism.     It   is   quite 
natural   that,  smarting  as  you  do  under  an  unprovoked 
aggression   from   the   slave-owners,    you   should  even  be 
willing  to  smother  them  like  hornets  in  their  nest.      But 
don't  forget    the    outside  world.     And   especially   don't 
forget  that   the   millions   in  Europe  are  more  interested 
even  than  their  princes  in  preserving  the  future  commerce 
with    the   vast   region    of    the    Confederate   States.       Be 
assured  that  the  civilized  world  will   not  acquiesce  in  a 
policy   which   looks  to   a   permanent    extinction   of   that 
commerce.       All     blockades    must    in    their     nature    be 
temporary,   and    they  will  only    bear  the  test  of   reason 
when,  as  stated   by  General  Cass  in  his  despatch  to  Mr. 
Mason  to  which  I   referred,  they  are  in  combination  with 
great   military    operations.     But    if   you    are    to    remain 
yourselves    besieged    in    Washington,   whilst    with    your 
naval     resources    you    are    permanently     destroying    the 
navigation    of  the   great    arteries    of    commerce    in    the 
South,    it   will   put   you    in    the   wrong  with    the   whole 
world.      By  and  by  the  European  Governments,  pushed 
on  by  the  distress  of  their  people,  will  begin   to  take  a 
retrospect    of   ihe    time  you   have   been  at  war,   and   to 
estimate  the  progress  you  have  made  in  reoccupying  the 
country   over   which   you   claim  authority — for  that  will 
be    made   the   measure    of   your    success.      Then,  if  no 
progress    can    be    shown,     except    in     blockading     and 
destroying  ports,  see  what  a  temptation  you  are  offering 
to    the    European    Governments    to     acknowledge    the 
independence  of  the  South,  by  which  they  will  neutralize 
the    Mississippi,  under    that    law    of   nations    settled    at 
Vienna   which   prohibits    the    interruption    of    the    trade 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

of  a  navigable  river  flowing  through  two  or  more  in- 
dependent States.  Of  course,  all  Europe  would  unite 
in  enforcing  this  law  if  the  South  were  acknowledged 
an  independent  State. 

"  I  come  back  to  the  view  1  always  hold,  that  your 
wisest  course  would  be  to  raise  the  blockade  yourselves, 
take  high  ground  with  Europe  for  a  complete  sweep  of 
the  old  maritime  code,  and  then  take  your  own  time 
to  deal  with  the  Slave  States,  either  by  fighting  them 
at  your  leisure  or  by  leaving  the  West  to  outgrow  them 
or  Slavery  to  undo  them." 

"  January  23,  1862. 
"  It  is  perhaps  well  that  you  settled  the  matter  by 
sending  away  the  men  at  once.  Consistently  with  your 
own  principles  you  could  not  have  justified  their  deten- 
tion. But  it  is  right  you  should  know  that  there  was 
a  great  reaction  going  on  through  this  country  against 
the  diabolical  tone  of  The  Times  and  Post  (I  suspect  stock- 
jobbing in  these  quarters).  The  cry  of  arbitration  had 
been  raised  and  responded  to,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  the 
religious  people  once  more  in  the  field  in  favour  of  peace. 
Be  assured,  if  you  had  offered  to  refer  the  question  to 
arbitration,  there  could  not  have  been  a  meeting  called 
in  England  that  would  not  have  endorsed  it.  The  only 
question  was  whether  we  ought  to  be  the  first  to  offer 
arbitration.  I  mean  this  was  the  only  doubt  in  the 
popular  mind.  As  regards  our  Government,  they  were, 
of.  course,  feeling  the  tendency  of  public  opinion.  A 
friend  of  mine  in  London,  a  little  behind  the  scenes, 
wrote  to  me,  *  They  are  busy  at  the  Foreign  Office 
hunting  up  precedents  for  arbitration  very  much  against 
their  will.'  I  write  all  this  because  I  wish  you  to  know 
that  we  are  not  so  bad  as  appeared  at  first  on  the 
surface.     There    is   now   a   new   newspaper  Press   in  the 

360 


The   Civil    War   and   the    Sumner    Letters 

provinces,  a  daily  penny  Press,  which  has  grown  up  since 
the  removal  of  the  stamp,  and  it  presented  a  marked 
contrast  for  moderation  with  the  Metropolitan  Times  and 
Post. 

"  Now  I  return  to  the  old  difficulty  and  danger  of 
the  blockade.  Parliament  will  meet  in  a  fortnight.  I 
am  very  much  afraid  of  the  tone  which  will  prevail  there. 
There  are  strong  symptoms  that  a  powerful  party  will 
press  on  the  Government  the  recognition  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  South.  There  will  be  motives  for  this 
step  which  will  not  be  avowed.  Our  aristocratic  classes 
would  in  their  hearts  like  to  see  your  great  Republic 
dismembered.  You  have  been  too  prosperous  to  please 
them  ;  and  then  it  must  be  admitted  you  have  not  always 
borne  your  prosperity  with  too  much  meekness  ;  and  it 
is  the  latter  fact  that  makes  our  official  politicians  rather 
happy  at  the  prospect  of  your  power  being  a  little  im- 
paired. Your  diplomacy  has  sometimes,  as  our  politicians 
think,  been  a  little  too  brusque  and  exacting.  However, 
none  of  these  motives  for  helping  to  break  you  asunder 
will  be  avowed.  Some  of  our  politicians  will  talk  of 
humanity,  and  profess  a  desire  to  put  an  end  to  the 
war.  This,  however,  with  those  who  could  gulp  the 
Crimea  and  Solferino,  will  be  indeed  straining  at  a  gnat 
after  swallowing  a  camel. 

"  But  I  come  back  again  to  the  one  sole  cause  of  all 
your  danger — the  blockade.  1  his  it  is  which  alone  will 
give  any  dangerous  power  to  those  who  wish  you  ill. 
Whatever  is  done,  it  will  give  the  vague  impression  to  the 
public  that  something  will  arise  out  of  it  to  assist  in 
raising  the  blockade.  And  it  is  this  common  feeling  of 
suffering  and  danger  which  will  bring  all  Europe  together 
(with  perhaps  the  exception  of  Russia)  on  the  question 
of  the  Southern  blockade.  If  our  Government  were 
not    pressed     forward     by     this    question     of     material 

361 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

interest,  there  never  was  a  time  when  the  doctrine  of 
non-intervention  was  so  strongly  in  the  ascendant 
in  our  maxims  of  foreign  policy  as  at  present.  There- 
fore, whatever  you  see  in  our  debates  or  whatever  you 
encounter  in  diplomacy,  no  matter  what  pretences  may 
be  put  forward,  be  assured  it  is  the  blockade  which 
is  at  the  bottom  of  every  movement  of  European  poli- 
ticians in  the  direction  of  your  affairs.  You  must  have 
expected  this.  It  was  not  possible  to  cut  off  the  sources 
of  employment  and  subsistence  from  many  millions  of 
people,  and  the  profitable  use  of  hundreds  of  millions  of 
capital,  suddenly  and  without  warning,  without  producing 
a  terrible  revulsion  of  feeling  against  you.  I  regret  that 
your  Foreign  Secretary  did  not  give  a  word  of  sympathy 
in  this  direction  instead  of  threats.  However,  he  had 
his  hands  full  at  home,  and  I  am  bound  to  say  there  is 
much  in  his  correspondence  of  which  a  copy  has  been 
sent  to  me  to  inspire  both  admiration  and  respect. 

"  But  the  question  recurs — -what  is  to  be  done  ? 

"  If  you  really  intend  to  prosecute  the  war  to  the  end, 
about  which  I  offer  no  opinion,  and  if  it  be  likely  to  last 
years,  then  1  say,  a  thousand  times,  devise  some  means 
of  raising  your  blockade  voluntarily,  or  it  will  bring  all 
Europe  on  you — first  to  acknowledge  the  South,  then 
to  pick  a  quarrel  with  the  blockade  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  ineffective,  and  to  claim  the  Mississippi  as  a  free 
river.  There  will  be  no  chance  for  you  to  fight  with 
England  or  France  ;  it  will  be  all  Europe  upon  you,  of 
which  you  have  had  a  specimen  in  the  case  of  the  Trent. 

"  Were  I  in  your  situation,  and  bent  on  carrying  on 
the  war  for  years,  I  would  throw  open  the  Mississippi 
and  some  other  ports  at  once  for  all  commerce,  exports 
and  imports,  except  articles  contraband  of  war.  If  you 
can  occupy  the  ports  of  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  etc.,  and 
open    commerce    through    a    Federal    Custom-house,    so 

362 


The   Civil    War   and  the    Sumner    Letters 

much  the  better,  but  if  not,  open  them  to  the  Con- 
federates. Then  afterwards,  if  by  military  operations 
you  were  to  take  those  places,  and  the  Southern  planters 
refused  to  send  their  produce,  you  of  the  North  would 
not  be  to  blame.  As  respects  the  fear  of  losing  revenue 
in  the  North  by  smuggling,  you  can  prevent  it  by  laying 
on  moderate  revenue  duties.  No  other  duties  ought  to 
be  thought  of.  Tell  Mr.  Chase  from  me  that  if  any  man 
or  party  in  the  North  at  this  moment  of  his  financial 
exigency  wishes  him  for  sectional  and  selfish  purposes 
to  swerve  a  hair  from  such  a  scale  of  duties  as  will  bring 
the  greatest  amount  of  revenue  at  the  customs,  irrespec- 
tive of  protection,  they  are  as  great  traitors  as  the 
Southerners,  and  not  so  open  and  courageous  in  their 
treason  to  the  State.  Now  all  experience  proves  that 
moderate  duties,  which  neither  impede  commerce  nor 
promote  smuggling,  are  the  most  productive  to  the 
revenue.  All  the  reflection  I  have  been  able  to  give 
the  subject  confirms  me  in  the  views  I  expressed  in  my 
former  letter. 

"  Propose  to  Europe  a  clean  sweep  of  the  old  maritime 
law  of  Vattell,  PufTendorf  &  Co.  Abolish  blockades  of 
commercial  ports  on  the  ground  laid  down  in  Cass's 
despatch  which  you  sent.  Get  rid  of  the  right  of  search 
in  time  of  war  as  in  time  of  peace.  And  make  private 
property  exempt  from  capture  by  armed  vessels  of  every 
kind,  whether  Government  vessels  or  privateers.  And 
as  an  earnest  of  your  policy  offer  to  apply  the  doctrine 
in  your  present  war.  You  would  instantly  gain  France 
and  all  the  continent  of  Europe  to  your  side.  You 
would  enlist  a  party  in  England  that  can  always  control 
our  governing  class  when  there  is  a  sufficient  motive 
for  action,  and  you  would  acquire  such  a  moral 
position  that  no  Power  would  dream  of  laying  hands 
on   you." 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

"  February  21,  1862. 

"  We  have  been  in  session  for  a  fortnight,  and  I 
merely  write  you  a  few  lines  to  give  you  my  impression 
of  the  feeling  among  members.  Nobody  seems  to  have 
any  faith  in  your  being  able  to  subdue  the  South  into 
submission  to  the  Federal  Union.  This  is  an  honest 
view  of  almost  every  one  I  speak  to.  This  is  the  view 
which  Gladstone  in  his  recent  speech  said  people  took 
who  were  still  well-wishers  to  the  North.  There  are  two 
distinct  questions  in  men's  mind  : 

"  (1)  Are  the  people  of  the  North  in  the  right  ? 

"  (2)  Can  they  succeed  in  restoring  the  integrity  of 
the    Union  ? 

"  To  the  first  question  I  should  say  the  overwhelming 
popular  majority  would  answer  in  the  affirmative.  To 
the  second,  I  should  say  the  numbers  would  be  in  the 
negative. 

"  I  hardly  know  anybody  except  our  courageous 
friend  Bright,  who  rather  likes  to  light  a  battle  with 
the  long  odds  against  him,  that  thinks  you  can  put 
down  the  '  rebellion.'  It  is  important  you  should 
know  this,  for  it  enhances,  I  think,  the  merit  of  the 
strong  desire  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  so  sceptical 
to  give  you  fair  play.  There  is  a  universal  opinion 
apparently  everywhere  here,  both  among  the  English 
and  Americans,  that  your  war  will  be  brought  to  an 
end  in  two  or  three  months.  But  how  is  this  to  be 
brought  about  ?  It  certainly  cannot  be  by  conquest, 
and  I  see  no  door  opening  for  compromise.  If  I  meet 
Mason,  he  says  the  war  can  only  end  by  the  North 
leaving  the  South  to  itself.  If  I  speak  to  a  Northern 
man,  he  says  it  can  only  end  by  the  South  submitting 
to  the  Union  !  Where  is  then  the  issue  ?  We  look, 
of  course,  to   your  military  operations,  which  in  the  next 

364 


The   Civil    War   and   the    Sumner    Letters 

two    months    must   decide    matters,   and   it   is   useless   to 
speculate  about  events  so   near  at  hand. 

"  Opinion    in    England    is    favourable    to   the   North, 
in  spite  of  The  Times  and   its   imps." 

"July  II,  1862. 

"  It  is  a   long  time  since   I  wrote   to  you.      Indeed,  to 

confess  the   truth,    it   is  a  painful  task  for   me   to   keep 

up  my  correspondence  with  my  American  friends.      But 

I   have  not   been  a   less   anxious  observer  of  the   events 

which    have    passed    on    your  side.        I   shall    now    best 

serve   the   interests  of  humanity   by   telling   you   frankly 

the   state   and  progress   of   opinion    here.     There    is    an 

all    but    unanimous    belief  that   you    cannot   subject    the 

South  to  the  Union.     Even  they  who  are  your  partisans 

and   advocates  cannot  see  their   way  to  any   such   issue. 

It   is    necessary    that    you    should    understand    that   this 

opinion  is   so  widely   and    honestly  entertained,   because 

it  is   the   key   to  the   expression   of  views   which   might 

otherwise    not    be  quite    intelligible.       Among  some   of 

the    governing    class   in    Europe   the   wish  is  father   to 

this  thought.     But   it   is   not   so   with   the   mass  of  the 

people.       Nor     is    it    so    with     our    own    Government 

entirely.       I    know    that  Gladstone    would    restore   your 

Union   to-morrow  if  he  could,   and    yet  he    has  steadily 

maintained     from     the     first    that,     unless     there    is     a 

strong  Union  sentiment,  it  is  impossible  that  the  South 

can  be    subdued.      Now   the   belief  is  all    but    universal 

that  there  is   no   Union   feeling   in   the   South,   and   this 

is  founded  latterly  upon  the  fact  that    no  cotton    comes 

from   New  Orleans.      It   is  said    that    if  the    instinct   of 

gain,   with    cotton    at  double  its    usual    price,    does    not 

induce  the  people  to  sell,  it   is   a  proof  beyond  dispute 

that     the     political     resentment    is     overwhelming      and 

unconquerable. 

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Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

11  I  have  precisely  the  same  views  with  regard  to  a 
European  intervention  that  I  had  last  winter  when  I 
wrote  to  you.  The  action  of  the  Governments  has 
been  put  off",  by  two  or  three  considerations,  to  the 
present  time.  It  has  been  thought  proper  to  wait  the 
result  of  your  spring  campaign.  Then  there  was  a 
large  stock  of  cotton  in  the  hands  of  rich  spinners 
and  merchants,  and  they  were  interested  in  keeping 
out  cotton.  Moreover,  we  had  great  merchants  who 
had  over-speculated  in  cotton  goods  which  were  shipped 
to  India  and  China,  and  they  were  glad  of  a  rise  in 
the  raw  material  which  enabled  them  to  get  out  of 
their  stocks.  But  all  these  motives  for  forbearance  are 
now  at  an  end.  The  merchants,  manufacturers,  spinners 
and  operatives  are  all  on  the  same  footing,  and  they 
are  all  anxious  to  obtain  raw  cotton,  and  they  will 
be  all  equally  pressing  on  our  Government  the  necessity 
of  '  doing  something.'  What  that  *  something  '  is  to 
be  is  more  than  I  can  pretend  to  say.  I  am,  of  course, 
as  strongly  convinced  as  ever  that  nothing  but  harm 
can  possibly  be  done  by  interference  of  any  kind.  But 
where  the  welfare  and  the  lives  of  millions  of  persons 
are  at  stake,  you  cannot  present  the  alternative  of  a 
greater  possible  evil  to  deter  a  Government  from 
attempting  to  remedy  so  vast  a  present  danger.  I  feel 
quite  convinced  that,  unless  cotton  comes  in  consider- 
able quantities  before  the  end  of  the  year,  the  Govern- 
ments of  Europe  will  be  knocking  at  your  door.  I 
do  not  pretend  to  say  what  form  their  representation 
will  take.  I  expect  it  will  be  a  joint  action  on  the 
part  of  all  the  Governments  interested — -or  rather  a 
joint  demonstration,  for  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
violent  action  will  be  resorted  to  or  contemplated.  But 
you  know  what  a  moral  demonstration  means,  with  a 
vast  material  force  behind  it.     And  such  a  step   would 

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The   Civil    War  and   the   Sumner    Letters 

beyond  all  others  encourage  the  South,  and  tend  to 
decide  them  against  any  concession  or  compromise. 

"Now,  are  you  doing  all  you  possibly  can  to  allow 
the  cotton  to  come  out  ?  I  am  afraid  not.  Your 
Republican  Party  are  mesquin  and  narrow  in  their  com- 
mercial policy.  You  must  instruct  your  military  com- 
mander at  New  Orleans  to  allow  the  sale  or  purchase 
of  cotton  by  foreigners  in  the  interior  without  asking 
any  questions.  When  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  who  won 
all  hearts,  was  here,  he  led  us  to  expect  that  after  the 
spring  campaign  was  at  an  end,  and  the  ports  should 
be  in  the  power  of  the  Federals,  there  would  be  a 
supply,  and  he  went  so  far  in  conversation  as  to  say 
that  your  Government  had  no  right  to  expect  the 
European  Powers  to  wait  indefinitely  for  cotton.  Now, 
depend  on  it,  the  world  will  not  wait  quietly  for  six 
months  longer. 

"  Now,  the  course  you  should  take,  and  the  only  one 
to  avert  trouble  with  Europe,  is  this  :  to  place  foreigners 
on  precisely  the  same  footing  in  the  interior,  as  respects 
the  trade  of  New  Orleans,  as  that  which  they  occupied 
before  the  war.  I  mean  this  :  that  if  an  Englishman 
comes  to  New  Orleans  with  a  cargo  of  goods,  other  than 
contraband  Oj  war,  and  pays  duty  on  them  at  the 
custom-house,  he  should  be  allowed  to  exchange  those 
goods  for  cotton  in  the  interior  without  any  inquiry 
as  to  whether  he  was  dealing  with  rebels  or  loyalists. 
And  the  same  rule  should  apply  if  he  took  sovereigns 
to  make  his  purchases.  Unless  this  rule  is  applied,  the 
pretended  opening  of  the  ports  is  a  delusion.  If  it  be 
said  that  this  will  enable  rebels  to  supply  their  wants, 
all  I  can  urge  in  reply  is  that  you  will  play  the  rebels' 
game  far  more  effectually  by  keeping  back  the  cotton 
than  by  allowing  the  South  to  sell  it. 

M  Let    me    hear    your    views   on    this  subject.       But 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

pray  urge  your  Government  to   act  as  I   advise.  Parlia- 
ment will  be  prorogued  in   a   few  weeks,  and  it  is  during 
the   recess  that  all  the  mischief  is  generally  done  in  ou  r 
foreign  relations." 

"  February  13,  1863. 

"  If  I  have  not  written  to  you  before,  it  is  not  because 
I  have  been  indifferent  to  what  is  passing  in  your  midst. 
I  may  say  sincerely  that  my  thoughts  have  run  almost 
as  much  on  American  as  English  politics.  But  I  could 
do  you  no  service,  and  shrunk  from  occupying  your 
overtaxed  attention  even  for  a  moment.  My  object  in 
now  writing  is  to  speak  of  a  matter  which  has  a  practical 
bearing  on  your  affairs. 

"  You  know  how  much  alarmed  I  was  from  the  first 
lest  our  Government  should  interpose  in  your  affairs. 
The  disposition  of  our  ruling  class,  and  the  necessities 
of  our  cotton  trade,  pointed  to  some  act  of  intervention  ; 
and  the  indifference  of  the  great  mass  of  our  population 
to  your  struggle,  the  object  of  which  they  did  not 
foresee  and  understand,  would  have  made  intervention 
easy,  and  indeed  popular,  if  you  had  been  a  weaker  naval 
Power.  This  state  of  feeling  existed  up  to  the  announce- 
ment of  the  President's  emancipation  policy.  From  that 
moment  our  old  anti-slavery  feeling  began  to  arouse 
itself,  and  it  has  been  gathering  strength  ever  since.  The 
great  rush  of  the  public  to  all  the  public  meetings  called 
on  the  subject  shows  how  wide  and  deep  the  sympathy 
for  personal  freedom  still  is  in  the  breasts  of  our  people. 
I  know  nothing  in  my  political  experience  so  striking 
as  a  display  of  spontaneous  public  action  as  that  ot 
the  vast  gathering  at  Exeter  Hall,  when,  without  one 
attraction  in  the  form  of  a  popular  orator,  the  vast 
building,  its  minor  rooms  and  passages  and  the  streets 
adjoining,   were  crowded   with   an   enthusiastic    audience. 

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The    Civil    War   and    the   Sumner    Letters 

That  meeting  has  had  a  powerful  effect  on  our  news- 
papers and  politicians.  It  has  closed  the  mouths  of 
those  who  have  been  advocating  the  side  of  the  South. 
And  I  now  write  to  assure  vou  that  anv  unfriendly 
act  on  the  part  of  our  Government,  no  matter  which 
of  our  aristocratic  parties  is  in  power,  towards  your 
cause,  is  not  to  be  apprehended.  If  an  attempt  were 
made  by  the  Government  in  any  way  to  commit  us  to 
the  South,  a  spirit  would  be  instantly  aroused  which 
would  drive  that  Government  from  power.  This  I 
suppose  will  be  known  and  felt  by  the  Southern  agents 
in  Europe,  and  if  communicated  to  their  Government 
must,  I  should  think,  operate  as  a  great  discouragement 
to  them.  For  I  know  that  those  agents  have  been  in- 
cessantly urging  in  every  quarter  where  they  could  hope 
to  influence  the  French  and  English  Governments  the 
absolute  necessity  of  recognition  as  a  means  of  putting 
an  end  to  the  war.  Recognition  of  the  South  by 
England,  whilst  it  bases  itself  on  negro  slavery,  is  an 
impossibility,  unless,  indeed,  after  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment has  recognized   the  Confederates  as  a  nation. 

"So  much  tor  the  influence  which  your  emancipation 
policy  has  had  on  the  public  opinion  of  England.  But 
judging  from  the  tone  of  your  Press  in  America  it 
does  not  seem  to  have  gained  the  support  of  your 
masses.  About  this,  however,  I  do  not  feel  competent 
to  offer  an  opinion.  Nor,  to  confess  the  truth,  do  I 
feel  much  satisfaction  in  treating  of  your  politics  at  all. 
There  appears  to  me  great  mismanagement,  I  had  almost 
said  incapacity,  in  the  management  of  your  affairs,  and 
you  seem  to  be  hastening  towards  financial  and  economical 
evils  in  a  manner  which  fills  me  with  apprehension  for 
the  future. 

"  When  I  met  Fremont  in  Paris  two  years  ago,  just 
as  you  commenced  this  terrible  war,  I  remarked  to  him 

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Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

that  the  total  abolition  of  slavery  on  your  Northern 
Continent  was  the  only  issue  which  could  justify  the 
war  to  the  civilized  world.  Every  symptom  seems  to 
point  to  this  result.  But  at  what  a  price  is  the  negro  to 
be  emancipated  !  1  confess  that,  if  then  I  had  been  the 
arbiter  of  his  fate,  I  should  have  refused  him  freedom 
at  the  cost  of  so  much  white  men's  blood  and  women's 
tears.  I  do  not,  however,  blame  the  North.  The  South 
fired  the  first  shot,  and  on  them  righteously  falls  the 
malediction  that  '  they  who  take  the  sword  shall  perish 
by  the  sword.'  And  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  after 
all  the  much-despised  '  nigger,'  and  not  the  potentates 
and  statesmen  of  Europe,  will  be  the  final  arbitrator  in 
this  great  struggle." 

"April  2,  1863. 

"  On  receipt  of  your  letter  I  communicated  privately 
with  Lord  Russell,  urging  him  to  be  more  than  passive 
in  enforcing  the  law  respecting  the  building  of  ships 
for  the  Confederate  Government.  I  especially  referred 
to  the  circumstance  that  it  was  suspected  that  some  ships 
pretended  to  be  for  the  Chinese  Government  were  really 
designed  for  that  of  Richmond,  and  1  urged  him  to 
furnish  Mr.  Adams  with  the  names  of  all  the  ships 
building  for  China  and  full  particulars  of  where  they 
were  being  built.  This  Lord  R.  tells  me  he  had  already 
done,  and  he  seems  to  promise  fairly.  Our  Government 
are  perfectly  well  informed  of  all  that  is  being  done 
for  the  Chinese. 

"  Now,  there  are  certain  things  which  can  be  done 
and  others  which  cannot  be  done  by  our  Government. 
We  are  bound  to  do  our  best  to  prevent  any  ship-of- 
war  being  built  for  the  Confederate  Government,  for 
a  ship-of-war  can  only  be  used  or  owned  legitimately 
by  a  Government.     But  with  munitions  of  war  the  case 

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The    Civil    War   and   the    Sumner    Letters 

is  different.  They  were  bought  and  sold  by  private 
merchants  for  the  whole  world,  and  it  is  not  in  the  power 
of  Governments  to  prevent  it.  Besides,  your  own  Govern- 
ment have  laid  down  repeatedly  the  doctrine  that  it  is  no 
part  of  the  duty  of  Governments  to  interfere  with  such 
transactions,  for  which  they  are  not  in  any  way  respon- 
sible. I  was,  therefore,  very  sorry  that  Mr.  Adams  had 
persisted  in  raising  an  objection  to  these  transactions,  in 
which,  by  the  way,  the  North  has  been  quite  as  much 
involved  as  the  South.  If  you  have  read  the  debate 
in  the  House  on  the  occasion  when  Mr.  Forster  brought 
on  the  subject  last  week,  you  will  see  how  Sir  Roundell 
Palmer,  the  Solicitor-General,  and  Mr.  Laird,  the  ship- 
builder, availed  themselves  of  this  opening  to  divert 
attention  from  the  real  question  at  issue — the  building 
of  warships — to  the  question  of  selling  munitions  of  war, 
in  whicli  latter  practice  it  was  shown  you  in  the  North 
were  the  great  participators. 

"  You  must  really  keep  the  public  mind  right  in 
America  on  this  subject.  Do  not  let  it  be  supposed 
that  you  have  any  grievance  against  us,  for  selling 
munitions  of  war.  Confine  the  question  to  the  building 
of  ships,  in  which  I  hope  we  shall  bring  up  a  strong 
feeling  on  the  right  side  here." 

"May    2,    1863. 

"  Though  1  have  no  news  beyond  what  you  will  get 
from  the  public  channels,  yet  I  think  it  well  to  write 
a  few  lines  on   the  present  aspect  of  affairs. 

"  I  am  in  no  fear  whatever  of  any  rupture  between 
the  two  countries  arising  out  of  the  blockade  or  the 
incendiary  language  of  the  politicians  or  the  Press  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic — though  these  may  help  to  preci- 
pitate matters  on  another  issue.  But  the  fitting  out 
of  privateers  to  prey  on   your  commerce  and  to  render 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

valueless  your  mercantile  tonnage  is  another  and  more 
serious  matter.  Great  material  interests  are  at  stake, 
and  unless  this  evil  can  be  put  down  the  most  serious 
results  may  follow.  Now,  I  have  reason  to  know  that 
our  Government  fully  appreciates  the  gravity  of  this 
matter.  Lord  Russell,  whatever  may  be  the  tone  of 
his  ill-mannered  despatches,  is  sincerely  alive  to  the 
necessity  of  putting  an  end  to  the  equipping  of  ships- 
of-war  in  our  harbours  to  be  used  against  the  Federal 
Government  by  the  Confederates.  He  was  bona  fide  in 
his  desire  to  prevent  the  Alabama  from  leaving,  but 
he  was  tricked,  and  was  angry  at  the  escape  of  that 
vessel.  It  is  necessary  your  Government  should  know 
all  this,  and  I  hope  public  opinion  in  England  will  be 
so  alive  to  the  necessity  of  enforcing  the  law  that  there 
will  be  no  more  difficulty  in  the  matter. 

"If  Lord  Russell's  despatches  to  Mr.  Adams  are  not 
very  civil,  he  may  console  himself  with  the   knowledge 
that  the  Confederates  are  still  worse  treated.      You  will 
be   amused   at   one   of  the    intercepted   despatches    from 
Mr.    Benjamin    to    Mr.    Mason,    in    which    the    former 
lectures  Lord  Russell  on  his  bad  manners.    This  despatch 
has    been    presented    to    Parliament.       By    the    way,    in 
Harriet    Martineau's    'Thirty    Years'    Peace,'    the    con- 
tinuation   of  the    '  Pictorial    History    of  England,'    she 
gives  an   anecdote  of  a   conversation   which  an   English 
traveller  (known  to  be  herself)  had  with  Mr.  Webster, 
when   the  latter  complained  of  the  want  of  manners  on 
the  part  of  the  Whig  diplomatists  which  gave  an  advan- 
tage  to  the   Tories  over   their    political    rivals    in    their 
relations  with  foreign  countries." 

"  May    22,    1863. 

"I    called  on   Lord    Russell   and   read   every   word   of 
your  last  long  indictment  against  him  and  Lord  Palmer- 

372 


The   Civil    War   and   the    Sumner  Letters 

stem,  to  him.  He  was  a  little  impatient  under  the 
treatment,  but  I  got  through  every  word.  I  did  my 
best  to  improve  on  the  text  in  half  an  hour's  con- 
versation. 

"  Public  opinion  is  recovering  its  senses.  John  Bull, 
you  know,  has  never  before  been  a  neutral  when  great 
naval  operations  have  been  carried  on,  and  he  does  not 
take  kindly  to  the  task.  But  he  is  becoming  gradually 
reconciled.  He  also  now  begins  to  understand  that  he 
has  acted  illegally  in  applauding  those  who  furnished 
ships-of-war  to  prey  on  your  commerce.  It  will  not 
be  repeated.  I  cannot  too  often  deplore  the  bungling 
mismanagement  on  your  side,  which  allowed  the  two 
distinct  questions  of  selling  munitions  of  war  and  the 
equipping  of  privateers  to  be  mixed  up  together.  It 
has  confused  the  thick  wits  of  our  people,  and  made 
it  difficult  for  those  who  were  right  on  this  side  on  the 
Foreign  Enlistment  Act  to  make  the  public  understand 
the  difference  between  what  was  and  what  was  not  a  legal 
transaction.  In  fact,  your  Foreign  Office  played  into 
the  hands  ot  our  politicians  by  affording  them  the  means 
of  mystification.  If  a  plain,  simple,  short  and  dignified 
reclamation  had  been  at  first  made  against  the  fitting  out 
of  ships-of-war,  with  a  clear  statement  of  the  law,  and 
a  brief  recital  of  what  your  Government  had  done  under 
similar  circumstances  to  us,  it  would  have  been  impossible 
for  our  Government  to  have  resisted  it.  But  when  you 
opened  fire  on  us  for  not  stopping  the  export  of  arms 
and  munitions  of  war,  you  offered  an  easy  victory  to  our 
lawyers,  and  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  escaping  in 
a  cloud   of  dust   from   the  real  question  at  issue. 

11  Mr.  Evarts  is  '  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.' 
He  is  an  able  international  lawyer.  Quite  a  match  for 
any  one  here  in  his  own  special  walk.  His  manners 
are    quiet    and    impressive.      He    is    mixing    very    much 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

in  our  best  society,  and  I  hear  him  spoken  of  with  great 
respect.      He  seems  pleased  with   his  reception." 

"  August  7,  1863. 

"  Let  me  congratulate  you  on  the  improved  state  of 
your  prospects.  So  far  as  fighting  goes,  I  think  you 
have  now  little  to  fear  from  the  Confederates.  The 
danger  is  from  the  politicians.  There  are  so  many  in 
the  North  hankering  after  the  '  fleshpots  of  Egypt ' 
that  I  shall  not  be  surprised  at  an  attempt  to  compromise 
with  the  South,  and  to  take  them  back,  '  institutions  ' 
and  all  !  Though  I  would  not  have  begun  the  war 
for  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes,  and  though  I 
cannot  urge  its  continuance  for  that  object,  yet  I  have 
always  felt  that  the  only  result  which  could  justify  the 
war  was  the  manumission  of  every  slave  on  the  Northern 
Continent  of  America.  To  restore  the  old  Union, 
slavery  and  all,  will  be  to  cover  with  shame  the  partisans 
of  the  North  throughout  the  world,  and  justify  the 
opponents  of  the  war  everywhere.  It  would  leave  the 
question  still  to  be  settled  by  a  similar  process  of  blood 
by  another  generation.  However,  I  do  not  see  how 
this  compromise  can  be  accomplished. 

"  You  will  have  had  reason  to  feel  but  little  satisfied 
with  us  during  the  late  Session.  Had  our  Government 
and  Parliament  taken  an  enlightened  view  of  the  interest 
of  the  nation,  they  would  have  competed  with  each 
other  in  their  eagerness  to  amend  our  Foreign  Enlist- 
ment Act,  in  order  to  preserve  intact,  as  far  as  depended 
on  us,  the  neutrality  code  in  which  we  above  all  nations 
are  so  deeply  interested.  I  consider  the  whole  system 
at  an  end.  Nothing  but  the  experience  of  a  war  in 
which  we  are  belligerents  and  you  are  neutrals  will  open 
our  eyes  to  a  sense  of  the  new  situation  in  which  we 
shall   find  ourselves. 

374 


The   Civil    War   and   the  Sumner    Letters 

"  Though  we  have  given  you  such  good  ground  of 
complaint  on  account  of  the  cruisers  which  have  left  our 
ports,  yet  you  must  not  forget  that  we  have  been  the 
only  obstacle  to  what  would  have  been  almost  a  European 
recognition  of  the  South.  Had  England  joined  France, 
they  would  have  been  followed  by  probably  every  other 
State  of  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  Russia.  This 
is  what  the  Confederate  agents  have  been  seeking  to 
accomplish.  They  have  pressed  recognition  on  England 
and  France  with  persistent  energy  from  the  first.  I 
confess  that  their  eagerness  for  European  intervention 
in  some  shape  has  always  given  me  a  strong  suspicion 
of  their  conscious  weakness.  But  considering  how  much 
more  we  have  suffered  than  other  people  from  the 
blockade,  this  abstinence  on  our  part  from  all  diplomatic 
interference  is  certainly  something  to  our  credit;  and 
this  1  attribute  entirely  to  the  honourable  attitude  assumed 
by  our  working  population." 

"  October  8,  1863. 
"The  admiration  which  I  feel  for  the  masterly  ability 
of  your  speech  at  the  Cooper  Institute  cannot  suppress 
a  certain  amount  of  resistance  to  it  on  the  score  of  'policy. 
I  was,  I  confess,  rather  beset  with  the  feeling  of  Cut  bono? 
after  reading  your  powerful  indictments  against  England 
and  France  together.  It  should  have  been  your  policy 
to  have  kept  them  asunder.  Besides,  if  all  we  hear  be 
true,  we  are  not  so  bad  as  our  great  neighbour.  We 
have  done  very  uncivil  things,  but  never  has  our  Execu- 
tive been  prepared  to  take  part  with  the  French  in 
recognizing  the  South  or  in  planting  a  thorn  in  your 
side  in  Mexico.  Again,  was  it  politic  to  array  us  in 
hostile  attitudes  just  at  the  moment  when  the  hopes  of 
the  South  were  mainly  founded  on  the  prospect  of  a 
rupture  between  yourselves  and  Europe  ?  Instead  of 
bringing     an     indictment     jointly     against      France    and 

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Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

England  for  their  past  misdeeds,  would  it  not  have  been 
better  to  have  shown,  in  the  most  favourable  colours 
consistent  with  truth,  the  strength  of  the  alliance  between 
the  masses  in  England,  led  by  so  much  of  the  intellect 
and  the  moral  and  religious  worth  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  Federals,  and  to  have  demonstrated  the  im- 
possibility of  the  aristocracy,  with  all  their  hostility, 
drawing  us  into  a  war  with  each  other  ?  You  were, 
I  suspect,  speaking  under  the  impression  that  the  iron- 
clad rams  would  be  allowed  to  leave.  I  was  sure,  as  I 
told  Evarts  and  Forbes  again  and  again,  that  those 
vessels  would  not  be  allowed  to  sail.  The  fact  that  they 
were  armoured,  turreted,  and  beaked  constituted  them 
armed  vessels  even  under  the  most  lax  interpretation  of 
our  Enlistment  Act. 

"  Your  career  seems  to  be  again  chequered  with 
partial  reverses.  1  suppose  this  will  tend  more  than 
ever  to  draw  the  Federal  authorities  towards  the  employ- 
ment of  the  African  race  in  the  war.  For  my  part,  1 
have  always  thought  that  the  negroes  who  are  the  main 
cause  and  object  of  the  war  will  play  an  important  part 
in  its  final  operations.  In  India  the  Sepoys  have 
always  done  the  chief  part  in  our  territorial  conquests, 
although  they  are  a  very  inferior  race  physically  to  the 
negroes.  Whoever  heard  of  a  Hindoo  offering  to  fight 
a  picked  Englishman  in  the  prize-ring?  He  would 
hardly  have  a  better  chance  than  a  woman.  But  we 
have  had  black  men  doing  this  in  England.  Tom  Cribb 
had  to  fight  a  severe  battle  for  the  champion  belt  with 
the  negro  Molyneux.  If  this  horrible  war  for  the 
freedom  of  the  slaves  is  to  go  on,  I  think  in  the  interest 
it  is  to  be  of  the  negroes  themselves  all  over  the  world 
desired  that  the  black  man  should  be  found  fighting  his 
own  battle.  To  this  you  will  be  brought,  probably 
against   the  wish  of  a  majority  of  the   Federals." 

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The    Civil    War  and    the  Sumner    Letters 

"January  7,   1864. 

"  You  may  be  assured  that  I  have  watched  with 
anxiety  your  proceedings  and  have  rejoiced  with  you 
at  every  step  of  your  progress.  After  Gettysburg  and 
Viclcsburg  I  have  ceased  to  fear  the  result,  and  it  has 
seemed  only  a  question  of  time.  That  the  leaders  of 
the  rebellion  will  '  die  hard  '  I  have  no  doubt.  But  cut 
off  from  all  hopes  from  Kurope,  with  the  negro  escaping 
and  being  drilled  against  them,  and  with  the  certainty 
that  in  another  year  or  two  the  supply  of  their  darling 
cotton  will  be  made  good  for  Lancashire  from  other 
parts  of  the  world,  there  can  surely  be  sufficient 
intelligence  found  among  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
•white  population  in  the  South  to  see  that  Secession 
is  a  dream  of  their  leaders  which  has  been  dispelled  by 
the  sad  realities  of  experience,  and  that  they  will  resign 
themselves  to  the  inevitable  result.  But  I  suppose  that 
the  ignorance  of  the  mass  of  the  whites  in  the  South  is 
nearly  on  a  par  with  that  of  their  negroes.  I  hope  to 
see  a  hundred  thousand  coloured  men  under  arms  before 
midsummer.  Nothing  will  tend  so  much  to  raise  the 
Africans  in  the  social  scale  as  to  put  muskets  in  their 
hands  and  drill  them  as  soldiers.  I  travelled  in  Egypt 
in  1836.  Mehemet  Ali  had  destroyed  the  Mameluke 
Beys  and  dispersed  their  followers,  and  called  in  some 
French  officers  to  drill  his  drab  Fellahs,  of  whom  there 
were  sixty  thousand  under  arms  when  I  was  there.  I  was 
told  that  previously  the  Arab  had  been  treated  like  a 
dog  by  these  few  thousand  Mamelukes,  a  white  race  from 
the  Caucasus,  who  for  hundreds  of  years,  by  constant 
importations,  had  ruled  the  country,  and  who  alone 
were  privileged  to  bear  arms.  But  after  the  Arabs  had 
been  accustomed  to  mount  guard  and  control  the  move- 
ments   of   even    white    men,    their    self-respect     had    so 

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Richard    Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

increased  with  the  consciousness  ot  power,  that  they 
were  no  longer  exposed  to  the  outrages  and  injuries 
of  former  times.  It  will  be  so  with  the  coloured  race 
with  you.  Let  a  few  regiments  of  them  be  seen  in 
New  York,  and  depend  on  it  they  and  their  countrymen 
will  no  longer  be  exposed  to  the  insults  of  their  rivals, 
the  Irish. 

11  You  will  soon  begin  to  busy  yourselves  with  the 
task  of  President-making.  I  hope  you  will  re-elect 
Mr.  Lincoln.  He  is  rising  in  reputation  in  Europe, 
apart  from  the  success  of  the  North.  He  possesses 
great  moral  qualities,  which  in  the  long  run  tell  more 
on  the  fortunes  of  the  world  in  these  days  than  mere 
intellect.  I  always  thought  his  want  of  enlarged  ex- 
perience was  a  disadvantage  to  him.  But  he  knows 
his  own  countrymen,  evidently,  and  that  is  the  main 
point.  And  being  a  stranger  to  the  rest  of  the  world, 
he  has  the  less  temptation  to  embark  in  foreign  con- 
troversies or  quarrels.  Nothing  shows  his  solid  sense 
more  than  the  pertinacity  with  which  he  avoids  all 
outside  complications.  His  truthful  elevation  of  char- 
acter, and  his  somewhat  stolid  placidity  of  nature,  put 
it  quite  beyond  the  power  of  other  Governments  to 
fasten  a  quarrel  on  him,  and  inspire  the  fullest  con- 
fidence in  those  who  are  committing  themselves  to  the 
side  of  the  North.  I  say  all  this  on  the  assumption 
that  he  has  irrevocably  committed  himself  to  '  abolition  ' 
as  the  result  of  the  war.  Any  compromise  on  that 
question  would  cover  your  cause  with  eternal  infamy, 
and  render  the  sanguinary  Civil  War  with  which  you 
have  desolated  the  North  and  South  useless  butchery, 
and  the  greatest  crime  against  humanity  recorded  in 
the  world's  annals.  You  know  I  would  never  have 
fired  a  shot  for  the  freedom  of  the  negro,  because  I 
believe    that  God    in    His    own    good  time  would   have 

378 


The   Civil    War   and  the    Sumner   Letters 

found  a  way  of  emancipating  the  slave  at  a  less  cruel 
cost  to  his  master.  But  I  remember  saying  to  Colonel 
Fremont  at  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1861,  just  as  the 
news  of  the  attack  on  Sumter  reached  Europe,  that 
nothing  hut  the  emancipation  of  every  slave  in  the 
United  States  would  justify  your  Civil  War  in  the 
eyes  of  Europe  and  posterity.  This  is,  of  course,  more 
than  ever  my  opinion  after  witnessing  the  gigantic 
dimensions  which   your  struggle  has  assumed. 

"  You  will  observe  that  European  politics  are  assuming 
a  somewhat  anxious  tone.  Is  it  not  strange  to  see 
those  dreamy  Teutons  pushing  matters  to  such  extremes 
on  the  Schleswig-Holstein  question  ?  It  seems  as  if 
that  people  were  only  able  to  work  themselves  into 
a  fever  of  excitement  on  some  subject  of  such  an  un- 
intelligible character  and  such  shadowy  merits  that 
nobody  out  of  Germany  can  understand  it  !  Whilst 
they  bear  with  the  most  stolid  apathy  the  most  insulting 
oppression  from  their  own  Governments,  they  are  in 
a  frenzy  of  sympathy  for  the  sufferings  of  the  Schleswig- 
Holsteiners,  who  are  living  under  a  far  freer  government 
than  themselves.  There  is  perhaps  more  than  meets 
the  eye  at  the  back  of  this  popular  excitement  in 
Germany.  The  Liberal  Party  are  humiliated  and  irritated 
at  the  malorganization  of  the  Confederacy.  They  would 
like  to  make  a  real  Union  of  the  forty  millions  of 
Germans,  but  they  have  tried  in  vain.  Now  the  idea 
has  possessed  itself  of  the  minds  of  a  portion  of  the 
patriot  party  that  a  foreign  war,  especially  with  France, 
would  unite  the  whole  race  and  enable  them  to  get 
rid  of  their  little  princes  and  even  kings,  and  become 
a  great  Teutonic  Empire.  It  is  a  terrible  tact  that 
this  idea  should  have  found  favour  with  sedate  and 
learned  men  of  the  professor  class.  Should  a  shot 
be  fired    on    the    Eider,  it   will    have    its  echoes  on  the 

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Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

Rhine,  Danube,  and  the  Mincio.  It  would  be  in  the 
power  of  Napoleon  to  bring  upon  Germany  the  Hun- 
garians, Italians,  Poles  and  Scandinavians.  I  should  think 
that  Austria  and  Prussia  will  thrust  aside  the  agitators 
and  smaller  States,  if  they  can,  and  occupy  the  frontier 
with  their  own  troops  and  preserve  the  peace  at  all 
hazards.  If  not,  it  will  be  because  the  German  people 
are  resolved  on  war,  in  which  case,  like  all  wars  of 
peoples,   it   will  be  a  bloodv  struggle." 

"  August  1 8,  1864. 

"It  is  long  since  we  exchanged  a  letter.  I  do  not 
know  whether  I  am  your  debtor  in  our  epistolary  ledger. 
But  I,  at  all  events,  have  to  thank  you  for  the  printed 
papers  you  have  from  time  to  time  forwarded  me,  and 
which  I  have  read  with  much  interest,  and  heartily  con- 
gratulate you  on  every  step  you  have  gained  in  your 
struggle  for  human  rights  and  freedom.  Whatever  may 
be  the  fate  of  the  war,  your  triumph  will  be  a  permanent 
gain   for  humanity. 

"  Along  with  your  partisans  generally  in  this  country, 
I  am  looking  with  deep  and  constant  solicitude  to  the 
progress  of  your  terrible  struggle.  There  is,  however, 
a  constant  struggle  in  my  breast  against  my  paramount 
abhorrence  of  war  as  a  means  of  settling  disputes, 
whether  between  nations  or  citizens  of  one  country. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  interest  which  I  feel  in  the 
fate  of  the  slaves,  and  the  hardly  inferior  interest  in  the 
removal  of  that  stigma  of  slavery  from  your  character 
as  a  free  Christian  community,  I  should  turn  with  horror 
from  the  details  of  your  battles,  and  wish  only  for  peace 
on  any  terms.  As  it  is,  I  cannot  help  asking  myself 
whether  it  can  be  within  the  designs  of  a  merciful  God 
that  even  a  good  work  should  be  accomplished  at  the 
cost  of  so   much  evil   to  the  world. 

380 


The    Civil    War    and   the    Sumner    Letters 

"  I  have  been  much  disappointed  with  the  result  so 
far  of  the  Virginia  campaign.  I  suppose  it  has  been 
inevitable.  But  we  were  told  by  those  who  ought  to 
have  been  well  informed  that  you  were  approaching 
Richmond  with  three  armies,  any  one  ot"  which  was  able 
to  cope  with  the  rebels.  Now,  however,  we  see  two  of 
these  armies  disappear  from  the  scene,  and  the  third  held 
in  check  by  a  portion  of  Lee's  army,  whilst  he  sends 
part  of  his  forces  to  menace  you  within  your  own 
territory  and  even  to  threaten  your  capital.  All  this, 
of  course,  tends  to  confirm  nine-tenths  of  our  politicians 
here  in  their  belief  that  the  success  of  the  North  is 
impossible.  For  my  own  part,  having  never  considered 
that  the  issue  depended  on  fighting,  but  on  the  sapping 
and  mining  of  the  social  evil  of  the  South,  I  still  look 
forward  with  unabated  confidence  to  the  triumph  of 
the  North. 

"  But  I  begin  to  speculate  on  the  effects  which  the 
failure  of  Grant's  campaign  may  have  on  your  politics. 
Sometimes  I  speculate  on  the  possibility  of  your  imitating 
the  course  which  political  parties  often  follow  here,  and 
that  your  Democrats,  who  appear  to  be  for  peace,  may 
come  into  power  and  carry  out  even  more  successfully 
than  your  party  could  do  the  policy  of  war  and  abolition 
of  slavery.  Like  Peel  in  his  course  of  Free  Trade  and 
Catholic  Emancipation,  they  would  have  the  advantage 
of  being  sure  of  the  support  of  the  honest  advocates 
of  the  policy  they  adopted,  even  although  they  were 
nominally  in  the  ranks  of  their  political  opponents. 
What  I  most  dread  is  your  falling  into  political  confusion 
in  the  North.  That  would  be  a  severe  blow  to  the 
principle  of  self-government  everywhere. 

"  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  my  friend  Mr. 
Goldwin  Smith,  Professor  of  Modern  History  at  the 
University    of   Oxford,   goes    out    by    the  Europa  for   a 

381 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

visit  to  the  States.  He  needs  no  personal  introductions, 
and  I  have  given  him  no  letters.  But  I  need  not  tell 
you  that  he  deserves  well  or"  your  country.  He  is  one 
of  the  few  men  moving  in  his  sphere  who  have  given 
a  hearty   and   most  brilliant  support  to  your  cause." 

"January    u,    1865. 

"  I  agree  with  a  remark  in  the  concluding  passage  of 
vour  last  letter — that  you  are  fighting  the  battle  of 
Liberalism  in  Europe  as  well  as  the  battle  of  freedom 
in  America.  It  is  only  necessary  to  observe  who  are 
your  friends  and  who  your  opponents  in  the  Old  World 
to  be  satisfied  that  great  principles  are  at  stake  in  your 
terrible  conflict.  But  it  is  not  by  victories  in  the  field 
alone  that  you  will  help  the  cause  of  the  masses  in 
Europe.  End  when  it  may,  the  Civil  War  will,  in 
the  eyes  of  mankind,  have  conferred  quite  as  much 
'  glory,'  so  far  as  mere  fighting  goes,  on  the  South 
as  on  the  North.  It  is  in  your  superiority  in  other 
things  that  you  can  alone  by  your  example  elevate  the 
Old  World.  I  confess  I  am  very  jealous  of  your  taking 
a  course  which  seems  to  hold  up  our  old  doings  as  an 
excuse  for  your  present  shortcomings.  Hence  I  was 
sorry  to  see  your  republication  of  the  old  indictment 
against  us  in  your  very  able  and  learned  pamphlet.  My 
answer  is  that  your  only  title  to  existence  as  a  Republic 
is  that  you  are  supposed  to  be  superior  to  what  we  were 
sixty  years  ago.  Had  you  returned  the  Florida  to  Bahia 
without  a  moment's  delay,  cashiered  the  captain  of  the 
[Vachusetts,  and  offered  to  pay  for  the  support  of  the 
survivors  who  were  dependent  on  those  who  were  killed 
or  drowned  in  that  wicked  outrage,  your  friends  would 
have  felt  some  inches  taller  here.  That  would  have  been 
the  true  answer  to  the  taunts  of  our  Tory  Press,  and 
not    the    disinterment    of   the    misdeeds   of    our     Tory 

382 


The    Civil    War   and  the    Sumner    Letters 

Government  to  show  that  they  did  something  almost 
as  bad   as  the   Federal  commander. 

"You  see  I  am  taking  the  liberty  of  ancient  friendship 
with  you  ;  and  whilst  in  the  vein,  let  me  ask,  What  is 
the  meaning  of  the  Bobadil  strain  in  which  the  New 
York  Times  treats  the  Canadian  question  ?  We  are 
accustomed  to  disregard  the  Herald  as  an  Ishmaelite 
organ  which  represented  no  political  party,  and  whose 
proprietor  was  a  renegade  Scotchman.  But  The  Times, 
with  Mr.  Raymond  at  its  head,  was  supposed  to  be 
something  different.  I  confess,  however,  I  never  saw 
anything  from  Mr.  Gordon  Bennett's  paper  more  calcu- 
lated to  weaken  your  good  influence  over  this  country 
than  the  article  to  which  I  refer.  Are  we  henceforth 
to  have  two  New  York  Heralds  instead  of  one?  But 
enough  of  this  vein. 

"  I  observe  an  attempt  by  The  'Times  (London) 
correspondent  at  New  York  to  make  it  appear  that 
the  American  public  are  again  beginning  to  apprehend 
European  intervention  in  some  form.  1  do  not  believe 
there,  is  the  remotest  risk  of  anything  of  the  kind.  You 
will,  I  hope,  have  soon  got  possession  of  all  the  ports 
of  entry  in  the  South,  and  re-established  your  custom- 
houses ;  when  that  is  done,  I  do  not  see  how  a  collision 
of  misunderstanding  with  a  neutral  maritime  Power  can 
possibly  arise. 

11  I  was  much  pleased  with  your  speech  on  the  Canadian 
difficulty  in  the  Senate,  where  you  spoke  of  avoiding  all 
quarrels  with  other  countries  and  devoting  yourself  to  the 
one  sole  object  of  putting  down  the  rebellion.  I  am 
not  blind  to  the  fact  that  very  grave  questions  will 
stand  over  for  adjustment  between  your  country  and 
ours.  Some  of  them,  such  as  the  injury  done  to  your 
whole  shipping  interest  by  the  losses  and  destruction 
of  a  part,  can  hardly  be  settled  by  Governments.'     They 

383 


Richard   Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

will,  I  fear,  invite  future  retaliation  on  our  shipping 
by  citizens  of  your  country,  if  we  should  ever  go  to 
war.  But  all  these  questions  must  be  postponed  till 
your  war  is  ended,  and  then  probably  the  whole  world 
may  be  ready  for  a  thorough  revolution  in  international 
maritime  law.      It  will   be  for  you  to  show  the  way. 

"  I  wish  I  could  see  more  intelligence  in  your  midst 
on  questions  of  finance  and  political  economy.  Your 
Congress  seems  to  me  just  about  on  a  level  with  the 
British  Parliament  in  1818,  before  Huskisson  commenced 
his  first  reforms  of  our  fiscal  system,  which  were  after- 
wards followed  up  by  Peel  and  Gladstone.  I  have 
always  considered  it  a  great  misfortune  that  the  New 
Englanders,  who  have  been  the  schoolmasters  of  the 
Union,  should  have  thought  themselves  interested  in 
the  policy  of  '  Protection.'  They  have  spread  the 
heresy  over  the  land.  However,  I  have  great  faith 
in  the  intelligence  of  your  people,  after  they  shall  have 
been  in  the  school  of  adversity. 

"  I  observe  that  your  Secretary  of  the  Navy  calls 
for  Government  yards.  As  a  rule,  all  heads  of  depart- 
ments wish  to  become  manufacturers.  In  this  country 
they  have  contrived  to  inveigle  us  into  all  kinds  of 
undertakings,  and  it  has  been  found  very  unprofitable. 
We  are  now  trying  to  make  our  Government  resort 
to  private  enterprise  for  the  supply  of  their  wants. 
But  it  is  very  difficult  to  retrace  our  steps.  I  send 
you  a  couple  of  copies  of  a  speech  I  made  on  this 
subject  last  year.  Pray  put  them  into  the  hands  of 
parties  taking  an  interest  in   the  subject." 

"  March  5,  1865. 
"  I     teel    it    a    pleasant    duty    to  give    you    my    best 
congratulations   on    the    recent    proceedings    within    and 
without    your    Halls    of  Congress.       The   vote    on   the 

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The   Civil    War  and  the    Sumner   Letters 

amendment  of  the  Constitution  was  a  memorable  and 
glorious  event  in  your  history.  Another  incident — 
that  of  your  introduction  of  a  coloured  man  to  the 
Supreme  Court — was  hardly  less  interesting.  In  all 
theie  proceedings  at  Washington  you  ought  to  be 
allowed  to  indulge  the  feelings  of  a  triumphant  general. 
You  served  as  a  volunteer  in  the  forlorn  hope  when 
the  battle  of  emancipation  seemed  a  hopeless  struggle. 
7  our  position  within  the  walls  of  Congress  was  very 
different  from  that  of  the  agitators  out  of  doors,  meri- 
torious as  were  their  labours.  I  have  served  in  both 
capacities,  and  know  the  difference  between  addressing 
an  audience  of  partisans  at  a  public  meeting  and  a 
hostile  Parliamentary  assembly.  The  rapid  progress  of 
events  and  the  sudden  transformations  of  opinion  must 
impart  a  constant  excitement  to  your  life  ;  it  must  be 
something  like  the  movements  of  the  kaleidoscope  !  I 
heartily  congratulate  you,  and  wish  I  could  shake  hands 
and  have  a  chat  with  you  on  all  that  is  passing.  Looking 
on  from  this  distance,  I  cannot  doubt  that  your  great 
military  operations  are  drawing  to  a  close.  The  war 
is  beinar  driven  into  a  corner.  A  few  months  must 
decide  the  fate  of  the  armies  in  the  field.  If  Lee  is 
beaten,  I  see  no  other  great  army,  and  the  Southern 
people  are  too  intelligent  to  attempt  to  protract  the 
struggle  into  a  guerrilla  warfare.  But  it  is  useless  to 
offer  speculations  here  on  events  which  will  be  realized 
probably  ere  you  receive  this. 

"  I  observe  an  attempt  to  alarm  you  with  the  pro- 
spect of  European  intervention.  I  need  not  tell  you 
that  this  is  the  purest  fiction.  Nothing  of  the  kind 
is  now  possible.  You  know  that  at  first  I  was  very 
apprehensive.  And  you  know  also  that  from  the  first 
the  French  Government  has  been  courting  the  alliance 
of    England   in   a    scheme  of  intervention.       '  Barkis   is 

385  BB 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

willing '  has  been  the  constant  language  of  Napoleon 
to  Madame  Britannia.  It  is  nothing  but  your  great 
power  that  has  kept  the  hands  of  Europe  off  you. 
When  a  deputation  of  free-traders  applied  to  Minister 
Guizot  in  1846  for  authorization  to  hold  meetings  to 
agitate  for  Free  Trade,  they  received  permission,  with 
the  benediction  '  Soyez  fort,  et  nous  vous  protegerons.' 
This  is  about  the  amount  of  what  your  friends  in  Europe 
have  been  able  to  do  for  you.  There  is  no  denying 
the  fact  that  your  terrible  struggle  has  demonstrated 
an  amount  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  ruling  class 
here,  and  the  ruling  powers  of  Europe  generally,  to- 
wards your  democratic  institutions,  for  which  none  of 
us  were  prepared.  Still,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  common  people  of  England  were  true  to  the  cause 
of  freedom.  It  has  never  been  possible  to  call  a 
public  open  meeting,  with  notice^  to  pass  a  resolution 
in  favour  of  the  rebellion.  It  would  have  been  voted 
down  by  the  working  men.  I  know  you  are  greatly 
and  justly  angered  at  the  conduct  of  our  upper  classes 
— but  do  not  forget  the  attitude  of  the  workers. 

"  PS.  I  am  more  alarmed  at  the  politico-economical 
delusions  that  prevail  in  your  high  places  than  at  the 
arms  of  the  rebels.  Who  is  Mr.  '  Maximum  '  Stephens, 
who  thinks  he  can  control  the  price  of  gold  if  he  can  only 
induce  a  majority  of  Congress  to  agree  with  him  ? 
The  serious  part  of  it  is  that  he  has  so  large  a  following. 

"  You  have  a  most  serious  task  before  you,  when  the 
war  ends,  in  clearing  away  the  wreck  and  adjusting 
your  pecuniary,  political  and  social  difficulties.  The 
country  is  revelling  in  a  Saturnalia  of  greenbacks  and 
Government  expenditure,  and  is  under  the  delusion  that 
it  is  a  genuine  prosperity.  It  is  destined  to  a  rude 
disenchantment,  and  this  will  test  the  statesmanship  of 
the  Republican  Party." 

386 


CHAPTER   XIII 

COBDEN   AND    MODERN    INTERNATIONALISM 

In  any  attempt  to  appreciate  Cobden's  services  to  the 
cause  of  internationalism,  and  his  position  as  an  Inter- 
national Man,  it  is  essential  to  clear  away  certain  mis- 
understandings and  misrepresentations  which  have 
gathered  round  his  policy  of  non-intervention.  Though 
primarily  a  peace  policy,  non-intervention  is  both  less 
and  more.  It  did  not  make  Cobden  a  "  peace  at  any 
price  man" — an  opponent  of  all  war.  Some  war  and 
some  preparation  for  war  he  regarded  as  hateful  neces- 
sities for  a  country  living  in  a  world  where  moral  force 
had  not  everywhere  and  always  got  the  upper  hand. 
Nor  does  he  advance  the  opinion  that  no  war  is  ever 
justifiable  except  one  undertaken  for  self-defence.  He 
sometimes *  admitted  that  a  case  might  arise  where  a 
powerful  nation  was  rightly  called  upon  to  take  up  arms 
for  the  protection  of  another  weaker  nation,  or  to 
assist  the  liberation  of  a  subject  and  oppressed  people. 
But  he  would  have  insisted  that  such  a  case  must  be 
extremely  rare.  For  the  right  and  obligation  of  such 
forcible  interference  must  be  justified  first  by  considera- 
tions of  our  knowledge  and  our  power.  The  Palmer- 
stonian  interventions  had  little  regard  to  either.  They 
were  urged  irrespective  of  reliable  information  as  to 
the  full  facts  and  merits  of  the  case,  or  of  our  capacity 
to   intervene  effectively  in  the  interests  of  justice.      But 

1  But  compare  p.  400. 

387 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

not  only  ought  we  to  be  sure  of  the  equity  and  effi- 
cacy of  our  intervention,  and  that  we  are  not  secretly 
misled  by  some  inherent  pugnacity  or  some  interested 
motives  of  our  own  ;  we  ought  also  to  consider  whether 
our  forcible  intervention  may  not  involve  the  neglect  of 
more  sacred  and  more  imperative  duties  at  home.  A 
naturally  pugnacious  people  is  likely  to  yield  too  easily 
to  the  temptation  to  undertake  a  spirited  foreign 
enterprise  under  the  direction  of  a  statesman  with  an 
arbitrary  domineering  temper. 

But   non-intervention  with  Cobden   meant    more  than 
abstinence    from    aggressive    or  other  unnecessary  wars. 
It  meant  a  reduction  of   foreign  policy,  in    its  govern- 
mental,    diplomatic     sense,     to      the      smallest    possible 
dimensions.        Sound     internationalism      could     not     be 
brought    about    by   arrangements  between    governments. 
Such  relations  were  governed  by  motives  and  conducted 
by    methods  positively    detrimental    to    the   free    pacific 
intercourse   of   individuals.     The  classes  of  Government 
officials    who    conducted    diplomacy,   and    the    methods 
they  employed,  were  poisoned  by   obsolete  traditions   of 
suspicion    and    hostility,    the  survivals    of    a    world    in 
which   statecraft    expressed    the   conflicting    interests    of 
rival     dynasties     and     not     the     common     benefits     of 
peoples.     The     ignorance    and    the    singular    ineptitude 
for    understanding  the    needs    and    interests    of    foreign 
nations  which  distinguish  our  governing  classes    made  a 
very  powerful    impression    upon    Cobden,  who  took  so 
much  trouble  to   equip   himself  with  the  sort  of  know- 
ledge   which  they  lacked.      He    knew    how    perilous    a 
foreign   policy    conducted    by  such   men    must  be.      So 
he    concluded   the  less   of  it  the  better.      If  the  peoples 
are    to  get   into  sane,  amicable  and    mutually  profitable 
relations    with    one    another,    that     intercourse  is     best 
promoted  by    leaving  it   to   them,  with   as  little    inter- 

388 


"THE  COBDEN  MADONNA"  (A  BAS-RELIEF  IN  TIIK  DUCAL  PA  I  U  I 
AT  VENICE.  SO-CALLED  BECAISE  IT  BEARS  THK  AUTOGRAPH  "I 
RICHARD   COBDEN). 


(To  Fa 


Cobden   and   Modern   Internationalism 

ference  as  possible  either  in  the  way  of  help  or  hindrance 
by  their  respective  Governments. 

Cobden's  conviction  of  the  essential  rightness  of  this 
non-intervention  policy  was  confirmed  by  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  public  life.  Growing  up  to  manhood  amid  the 
poverty  and  degradation  which  were  the  sequel  of  the 
French  War,  he  witnessed  in  his  lifetime  a  constant 
recurrence  of  the  peril.  Now  with  France,  now  with 
Russia,  now  with  the  United  States,  we  were  embroiled 
at  short  intervals,  in  pursuance  of  that  "  filthy  idol  "  (as 
Bright  called  it)  the  Balance  of  Power,  or  for  the  supposed 
furtherance  of  our  colonial  or  commercial  interests.  With 
a  single  exception,  we  escaped  the  actual  disaster  of  war 
with  a  great  European  Power.  But  the  lesson  of  that 
war,  its  initiation,  its  conduct  and  its  consequences,  was 
such  as  to  impress  upon  any  sane-thinking  man  the 
enormity  of  the  abuses  to  which  a  spirited  foreign  policy 
was  prone.  Cobden  did  not,  indeed,  live  to  hear  a 
British  Prime  Minister  confess  that  in  the  Crimean  War 
"  We  had  put  all  our  money  upon  the  wrong  horse." 
But  that  war  was  to  him  the  crucial  experiment  which 
proved  the  validity  of  his  principle  of  non-intervention. 
It  was  reinforced  by  a  whole  array  of  lesser  instances, 
the  threats,  the  diplomatic  bullying,  the  naval  demon- 
strations, the  punitive  expeditions  and  minor  wars  with 
which  the  Victorian  age,  and  especially  the  Palmerstonian 
section  of  it,  was  richly  strewn. 

Nor  was  it  foreign  policy  alone  that  suffered  from  this 
vice.  Our  rule  in  India  and  in  our  colonies  was  rife 
with  the  same  spirit  of  aggression  and  aggrandizement, 
in  which  trading  interests  commonly  conspired  with 
bureaucratic  pride  and  rapacity.  The  terrible  political 
and  moral  reactions  of  imperialism  upon  the  subject 
peoples  and  upon  the  government  and  social  life  of  our 
own    nation    were    enforced    by    many   instances.      More 

389 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

clearly  than  any  man  in  his  time,  Cobden  detected  the 
blighting  influence  of  that  unconscious  hypocrisy  which 
distinguishes  the  modern  from  the  older  imperialism — 
the  parade  of  moral,  religious  and  other  laudable  motives 
in  which  the  secret  lust  of  political  and  economic  sway 
conceals  itself.  For  he  alone  had  acquired,  from  long 
persistent  study,  the  actual  knowledge  enabling  him 
to  detect  the  intricate  interplay  of  interests  and  motives 
which  gives  inner  meaning  to  the  processes  of  imperialism. 
The  colonial  policy  of  his  time  exhibited,  indeed,  one 
episode  of  supreme  folly,  not  in  the  way  of  intervention 
but  of  non-intervention.  It  was  the  exception  that  proved 
the  rule.  Colonial  self-government,  extended  in  Cob- 
den's  time  to  our  white  colonies,  was  in  itself  a  distinct 
movement  towards  non-intervention.  But  might  it  not 
have  been  accompanied  by  a  stipulation  that  would  have 
secured  complete  and  lasting  freedom  of  commerce  among 
the  peoples  of  the  self-governing  States  ?  Cobden  felt 
that  here  a  great  opportunity  had  been  lost  for  the  pro- 
motion of  actual  internationalism  (for  our  Dominions  are 
nations)  upon  a  sound  footing.  The  same  line  of  reason- 
ing by  which  his  negotiation  of  the  French  Treaty  was 
defended  is  also  applicable  here.  Such  a  provision, 
attached  to  the  charters  of  self-government,  though 
formally  a  limitation  and  restraint,  would  have  operated 
to  secure  freedom  of  trade  throughout  our  vast  Empire, 
and  to  abate  the  jealousy  with  which  other  commercial 
nations  have  been  disposed  to  regard  our  territorial 
possessions. 

Non-intervention,  thus  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the 
experience  of  Cobden's  times,  appeared  to  claim  assent  on 
grounds  of  reason,  justice  and  utility. 

The  idea  of  a  constructive  foreign  policy  as  an  instru- 
ment of  internationalism  could  not,  he  felt,  seriously  be 
entertained.    For,  wherever  concerted  action  of  a  govern- 

39° 


Cobden  and   Modern  Internationalism 

ment  was  undertaken,  it  was  always  for  the  further 
coercion  of  some  other  government.  Non-intervention 
was  therefore,  ipso  facto,  a  double  gain  for  amicable  rela- 
tions between  nations,  for  by  removing  the  active  obstacles 
of  diplomacy,  war,  and  protective  tariffs  it  enabled  the 
mutual  interests  and  good  feelings  of  the  peoples  to 
operate  freely. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  non- 
intervention policy  of  Cobden  and  his  school  was  not 
merely  a  policy  of  external  relations.  It  was  the  applica- 
tion of  the  same  principle  which  led  them  to  oppose 
all  or  most  extensions  of  governmental  powers  for  the 
regulation  of  the  internal  relations  of  citizens.  Govern- 
ment was  conceived  as  a  bad  thing  in  itself,  always  op- 
pressive to  individuals,  frequently  unjust,  nearly  always 
expensive  and  inefficient.  A  country  had  to  bear  govern- 
ment for  its  sins,  as  a  provision  against  enemies  outside 
and  enemies  within.  Armaments  and  police  were  the 
essence  of  government.  The  more  rigorous  logic  of  this 
laissez-faire  thought  and  policy  dictated  an  opposition  to 
the  entire  body  of  the  factory  laws  and  other  State  regula- 
tions of  industry,  and  to  all  public  provision  or  enforce- 
ment of  sanitation  and  education.  Their  economic  theory 
taught  these  thinkers  to  believe  that  unrestricted  freedom 
of  contract  and  of  exchange  would  secure  the  greatest, 
surest,  and  most  rapid  growth  of  industrial  prosperity,  and 
that  the  natural  play  of  competition  under  the  pressure  of 
self-interest  would  win  for  all  classes  their  proper  share. 
Their  political  Liberalism  was  thus  directed  almost  wholly 
to  the  removal  of  the  various  impediments  which  law 
and  custom  offered  to  the  free  play  of  this  enlightened 
self-interest.  To  Free  Trade  must  be  added  removal  of 
restrictions  upon  the  transfer  or  the  use  of  land,  upon 
freedom  of  movement  and  settlement  of  labour,  the  repeal 
of  "taxes  upon  knowledge,"  and  the  establishment  of  full 

391 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

religious  liberty  and  equality,  by  the  abolition  of  religious 
tests  for  Universities  and  public  offices,  by  abolition  of 
Church  rates  and  the  disestablishment  of  the  State 
Church.  This  Liberalism  on  its  constitutional  side- 
usually  comprehended  an  extension  of  the  franchise 
towards  full  self-government  of  the  nation,  and  the 
absorption  of  all  real  governmental  power  in  the  hands 
of  the  representative  House. 

Cobden,  like  other  thinkers,  brought  his  personal 
variations  into  this  creed.  He  did  not,  for  instance, 
carry  his  opposition  to  all  factory  legislation  so  far  as  to 
oppose  legislative  restraints  upon  the  hours  of  employ- 
ment for  children.  Indeed,  he  was  throughout  his  life  a 
vigorous  advocate  of  popular  schools  for  working-class 
children,  and  supported  in  the  House  of  Commons  the 
education  clauses  in  Sir  James  Graham's  Factory  Act  of 
1 844.  "  In  the  case  of  children,  Cobden  fully  perceived 
that  freedom  of  contract  is  only  another  name  for  freedom 
of  coercion,  and  he  admitted  the  necessity  of  legislative 
protection."1  As  regards  adult  workers  he  recognized  no 
such  necessity.  Familiar  as  he  was  with  the  terribly  bad 
conditions  of  labouring  life  both  in  agriculture  and  in 
town  industry,  he  persistently  adhered  to  the  conviction 
that  governments  could  do  nothing  useful  to  remedy 
them,  but  that  all  effective  remedies  must  come  from 
individual  energy  and  intelligence.  He  even  accepted 
the  ordinary  position  of  the  employing  class,  that  trade 
unions  were  "  founded  upon  principles  of  brutal  tyranny 
and  monopoly,"2  and  could  do  nothing  effective  to  im- 
prove the  general  status  of  the  labouring  classes.  Nor  did  he 
appear  to  recognize  the  inequality  of  permitting  employers 
to  combine  for  the  regulation  both  of  prices  and  of  wages, 
while  workmen  were  legally  restricted.     This  view,  how- 

1  Morley's  "  Life,"  i.  298. 

2  Letter  to  F.  W.  Cobden,  August  16,  1842. 

392 


Cobden  and   Modern    Internationalism 

ever,  was  by  no  means  due  to  any  lack  of  enthusiasm  for 
the  improvement  in  the  condition  of  labour,  but  to  an 
unshakable  conviction  that  individual  bargaining  was  the 
only  adequate  method  of  obtaining  it.  In  1836  he  sum- 
marized his  view  in  the  following  language1:  "I  know 
it  has  been  found  easier  to  please  the  people  by  holding 
out  flattering  and  delusive  prospects  of  cheap  benefits  to 
be  derived  from  Parliament  rather  than  by  urging  them 
to  a  course  of  self-reliance  ;  but  while  I  will  not  be  the 
sycophant  of  the  great,  I  cannot  become  the  parasite  of 
the  poor  ;  and  I  have  sufficient  confidence  in  the  growing 
intelligence  of  the  working  classes  to  be  induced  to  believe 
that  they  will  now  be  found  to  contain  a  great  proportion 
of  minds  sufficiently  enlightened  by  experience  to  concur 
with  me  in  this  opinion,  that  it  is  to  themselves  alone 
■individually  that  they,  as  well  as  every  other  great  section 
of  the  community,  must  trust  for  working  out  their  own 
regeneration  and  happiness.  Again  I  say  to  them,  •  Look 
not  to  Parliament ;  look  only  to  yourselves.'  " 

It  was  partly  this  general  disbelief  in  the  virtue  of 
government,  and  partly  the  conviction  that  effective 
reform  in  his  time  could  best  be  achieved  by  the  activi- 
ties of  the  propertied  middle  class,  that  made  Cobden 
somewhat  tepid  in  his  support  of  franchise  extensions, 
and  averse  to  placing  any  high  value  upon  changes 
in  political  machinery.  This  sentiment  was  expressed 
in  1849  when,  writing  to  Mr.  Sturge  in  relation  to 
Parliamentary  Reform,  he  said  :  "I  do  not  oppose  the 
principle  of  giving  men  a  control  over  their  own  affairs. 
I  must  confess,  however,  that  I  am  less  sanguine  than 
I  used  to  be  about  the  effects  of  a  wide  extension  of 
the  franchise."2  Elsewhere  he  gives  this  interesting 
commentary   upon   his   change  of   view  :      "  The  citadel 

1   Letter  to  W.  C.  Hunt,  October  21,  1836  (quoted,  Morley). 
»  "Life,"  i.  37. 

393 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

of  privilege  in  this  country  is  so  terribly  strong,  owing 
to  the  concentrated  masses  of  property  in  the  hands  of 
the  comparatively  few,  that  we  cannot  hope  to  assail  it 
with  success  unless  with  the  help  of  the  propertied 
classes  in  the  middle  ranks  of  society,  and  by  raising 
up  a  portion  of  the  working  class  to  become  members 
of  a  propertied  order."  J 

His  mind  upon  the  matter  is  made  even  clearer  by 
an  interesting  passage  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bright,  written 
in  1859,  when  the  latter  was  urging  a  comprehensive 
policy  of  financial  reform  and  seeking  to  rally  behind 
it  a  democratic  sentiment.  "  You  seem,"  he  writes, 
"  to  take  the  working  classes  too  exclusively  under 
your  protection.  They  are  quite  powerless  as  opposed 
to  the  middle  and  upper  classes,  which  is  a  good  reason 
why  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  be  made  to  appear 
to  be  in  antagonism  to  both."  2 

In  other  words,  Cobden,  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  his  career,  believed  that  real  political  reforms,  whether 
in  legislation,  foreign  policy  or  finance,  could  only  be 
accomplished  in  his  time  by  the  organized  action  of 
the  intelligent  middle  classes,  and  that  to  bring  in  the 
uninstructed  masses  would  alarm  the  substantial  bour- 
geoisie and  so  strengthen  the  defences  of  the  landed 
aristocracy,  who  were  the  real  upholders  of  economic 
and   political   privilege. 

This  conviction  of  the  desirable  supremacy  of  the 
middle  class,  however,  became  sensibly  modified  in  his 
later  years,  partly  by  disappointment  with  the  warlike 
and  imperialistic  sentiments  displayed  by  so  many  of 
his  Free  Trade  adherents,  partly  by  a  growing  recog- 
nition of  the  rightness  and  efficacy  of  the  wider  franchise 
to  which  his  friend  Bright  devoted  so  much  of  his 
energy.  It  may,  indeed,  be  fairly  claimed  that  in  his 
1  "Life,"  i.  53.  3  Ibid.,  i.  347. 

394 


Cobden  and   Modern   Internationalism 

last  years  Cobden  stood  strongly  for  political  democracy. 
Here  are  two  passages  from  letters  written   in    1 86 1  : 

To  Samuel  Lucas. 

"Algiers,  February  23,  1861. 
"There  is  more  healthy  Radicalism  to  be  found 
scattered  about  our  small  towns  and  villages  than  in 
the  larger  boroughs.  I  mean  that  it  is  a  more  sturdy 
kind  of  democratic  sentiment,  for  it  goes  directly 
against  the  feudal  domination  under  which  we  really 
live,  whereas  in  the  great  towns  Radicalism  often 
misses  its  mark  and  is  assailing  some  insignificant 
grievance." 

To   William  Hargreaves. 

"  Algiers,  March  1,  1861. 
"  I  wonder  the  working  people  are  so  quiet  under 
the  taunts  and  insults  offered  them.  Have  they  no 
Spartacus  among  them  to  lead  a  revolt  of  the  slave 
class  against  their  political  tormentors  ?  I  suppose  it 
is  the  reaction  from  the  follies  of  Chartism  which 
keeps  the  present  generation  so  quiet.  However,  it 
is  certain  that  so  long  as  live  millions  of  men  are 
silent  under  their  disabilities  it  is  quite  impossible 
for  a  few  middle-class  members  of  Parliament  to  give 
them  liberty,  and  this  is  the  language  I  shall  use  when 
called  on  to  speak  to  them.  It  is  bad  enough  that 
we  have  a  political  machine  that  will  not  move  till  the 
people  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel.  But  we  must 
face  things  as  they  are,  and  not  live  in  a  dreamland 
of  our  own  making.  The  middle  class  have  never 
gained  a  step  in  the  political  scale  without  long  labour 
and  agitation  out  of  doors,  and  the  working  people 
may  depend  on  it  they  can  only  rise  by  similar  efforts, 
and  the  more  plainly  they  are  told  so  the   better." 

395 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

From  these  letters,  however,  appear  also  the  limitations 
of  Cobden's  democracy.  He  had  little  use  for  anything 
that  could  be  called  economic  democracy,  nor  did  he 
adequately  recognize  that  an  effective  political  democracy 
was  impossible  so  long  as  the  existing  economic  bondage 
survived.  In  some  measure  he  was  alive  to  this  truth 
as  it  was  illustrated  in  the  rural  feudalism.  But  he  never 
saw  its  significance  as  a  condemnation  of  the  factory 
system  and  its  town  proletarianism. 

As  we  look  back  upon  that  period,  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  understand  how  a  man  of  Cobden's  keen  intelligence 
and  profound  sympathy  with  injustice  could  fail  to 
recognize  the  wrongs,  the  cruelty  and  oppression  which 
underlay  the  normal  methods  by  which  the  new  middle- 
class  prosperity  was  built  up.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
amazing  growth  of  rich  new  families  in  Lancashire  is 
for  us  quite  discernibly  due  to  causes  in  which  the  skill, 
intelligence  and  industry  of  the  individuals  who  were 
said  to  have  "  made "  this  wealth  played  but  a  minor 
part.  They  contributed  very  little  to  the  immense  value 
of  the  new  industrialism  which  machinery  and  steam- 
power  brought  into  being.  On  the  other  hand,  this 
growth  of  wealth  was  demonstrably  conditioned  by  the 
use  of  masses  of  ill-paid,  ill-clad,  ill-housed,  short-lived 
and  degraded  workers,  whose  overdriven  toil  was  coined 
into  these  swollen  profits. 

If  Cobden  was  blind  to  these  truths,  it  was  due  to  no 
lack  of  natural  humanity,  to  no  calculated  selfishness. 
It  was  in  the  main  a  fault  of  intellectual  and  moral 
perspective,  shared  by  most  of  the  best  men  of  his  day, 
and  aggravated  by  the  too  facile  acceptance  of  a  philo- 
sophy which,  by  the  very  stress  it  laid  upon  human 
liberty  and  equality,  deceived  its  votaries  into  an  exces- 
sive valuation  of  the  powers  of  individual  intelligence  and 
will  to  achieve  success  and  happiness. 

396 


Cobden  and   Modern   Internationalism 

Putting  the  matter  on  a  more  concrete  basis,  Cobden 
and  his  friends  saw  the  power  of  landlords  to  impose 
oppressive  and  unjust  conditions  in  substantially  unfair 
bargains.  They  did  not  see  that  the  entire  system  of 
industry  and  commerce  was  honeycombed  with  similar 
inequalities  of  bargaining  power  which  stamp  injustice 
and  oppression  in  a  hundred  different  ways  upon  society. 
Capitalism  was  to  them  the  liberator  of  the  people  from 
the  shackles  of  feudal  landlordism.  If  its  blessings  were 
spread  somewhat  unevenly  or  were  disguised,  if  some 
classes  seemed  to  gain  more  than  others,  that  was  due 
partly  to  necessary  friction  in  the  play  of  the  new  eco- 
nomic forces,  partly  to  the  superior  intelligence,  industry, 
thought  and  other  economic  virtues  which  led  some 
persons  to  avail  themselves  of  opportunities  which  lay 
open  to  all  alike,  but  which  so  many  others  neglected. 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  beneficiaries  of 
the  new  order  should  be  keenly  alive  to  the  defects  of 
that  order.  Engaged  as  were  Cobden  and  his  friends  in 
fighting  older  evils  that  were  real  and  deep-rooted,  they 
were  inevitably  blinded  to  most  of  the  evils  in  the  new 
business  world  whose  claims  they  championed.  Though 
there  existed  even  in  the  early  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century  powerful  exponents  of  the  claims  of  labour  and 
of  the  co-operative  as  distinguished  from  the  competitive 
system  of  society,  the  prosperous  middle  classes  were 
incapable  of  recognizing  the  moral  frailty  of  the  fabric 
of  their  prosperity.1  Schools  of  economists  and  social 
philosophers  arose  to  furnish  them  with  intellectual 
spiritual  defences  and  to  comfort  them  with  the  convic- 
tion that  prosperity  was  the  natural  reward  of  virtue. 
Though  not  often  openly  avowed,  the  blunt  verdict  of 
Tennyson's    Northern    Farmer,    that    "the  poor  in    the 

1  For  valuable   testimony   to   this   truth  see   Mr.  and   Mrs.   Ham- 
mond's "  The  Town  Labourer,"  chaps,  x.  and  xi. 

397 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

loomp  is  bad,"  was  the  self-flattering  assumption  of 
most  of  the  respectable  middle  classes  in  mid- Victorian 
days. 

This  moral  and  intellectual  atmosphere  .prevented 
Cobden  from  realizing  adequately  the  fact  that  a  middle- 
class  Government  was  incapable  of  doing  justice  to  the 
claims  and  needs  of  the  masses.  It  also  prevented  him 
from  recognizing  that  only  if,  as  he  would  have  admitted, 
liberty  meant  not  only  the  absence  of  interference  but  the 
presence  of  opportunities,  there  was  a  great  deal  more 
work  for  governments  to  undertake  than  the  mere  task 
of  keeping  order  in  the  competitive  ring. 

It  was  evident  to  him  that  children  without  access  to 
education  were  not  really  free,  and  he  was  prepared  for 
State  interference  to  secure  for  them  this  liberty.  We 
now  recognize  that,  unless  every  human  being  has  full 
opportunity  of  realizing  all  his  healthy  human  needs  and 
faculties,  he  is  not  really  free,  and  that  for  the  attainment 
of  this  freedom  the  operation  of  the  collective  as  well  as 
the  individual  will  is  necessary.  This  idea  is  everywhere 
transforming  the  conception  of  government,  assigning 
to  it  a  growing  wealth  of  positive  constructive  functions 
in  the  furtherance  of  individual  liberty.  To  take  a 
single  example  :  it  is  admitted  that  physical  health  is  a 
prime  condition  of  personal  freedom.  But  individuals 
cannot  secure  this  condition  for  themselves.  There  must 
also  be  public  health,  with  restraints  and  aids  which  can 
only  be  applied  by  government.  If  these  powers  are 
wisely  exercised,  they  cease  to  be  resented  as  interference 
and  come  to  be  recognized  as  public  benefits. 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  supersession  of 
the  principle  of  non-intervention  or  laissez-faire  in 
internal  affairs,  because  it  has  an  important  bearing  upon 
international  relations.  If  it  seemed  unreasonable  to 
expect   that  government   could    make   any  positive  con- 

398 


* 


Cobden  and   Modern   Internationalism 

tribution  to  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  individuals 
within  a  country,  still  less  reasonable  did  it  seem  to 
expect  that  the  governments  of  different  countries  could 
pursue  any  fruitful  process  of  co-operation  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  society  of  nations.  Foreign  policy 
was  so  deeply  rooted  in  mischievous  theories,  so  "  en- 
slaved by  the  black  magic  of  dead  words  "  l  so  poisoned 
with  suspicion,  jealousy,  selfishness  and  all  the  separatist 
and  antagonizing  motives,  that  it  should  be  kept  at 
a  minimum.  In  order  to  get  the  peoples  to  co- 
operate peacefully  and  effectively,  keep  their  govern- 
ments as  much  as  possible  apart.  For  the  contacts 
of  governments  are  normally  hostile  ;  even  when 
governments  get  together  in  Alliances  or  Concerts, 
the  underlying  motives  are  the  exercise  of  diplomatic 
or  military  force  against  other  countries  tor  the  realiza- 
tion of  their  own  separate  or  jointly  selfish  aims.  This 
conception  of  foreign  relations  was  not  wholly  justified. 
The  Balance  of  Power,  perilous  as  was  the  mechanical 
arrangement  of  force  which  underlay  it,  had  some  real 
regard  to  the  peace  of  Europe,  and  the  action  of  the 
Concert  was  in  part  directed  to  this  object.  But  when 
foreign  affairs  were  in  the  hands  of  such  a  man  as 
Palmerston,  it  was  difficult  to  realize  safety  and  humanity 
in  any  other  terms  than  those  of  non-intervention.  Thus 
Cobden's  early  conviction  was  confirmed  in  every  period 
of  his  political  career  by  conspicuous  examples  of  the 
perils  and  wrongs  attending  "a  spirited  foreign  policy." 
If  governments  would  keep  their  hands  off  and  allow 
the  mutual  interests  of  free  commercial  intercourse  to 
weave  bonds  of  union  between  peoples,  peace  on  earth 
and  good-will  among  nations  would  be  secured,  the  waste 
and  provocation  of  armaments  would  disappear,  and  the 
material  and  moral  resources  of  every  nation  would  be 
1  Delisle  Burns,  "The  Morality  of  Nations,"  p.  236. 

399 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

available  for  the  improvement  of  the  national  life  and  for 
the  enrichment  of  humanity. 

The  uncompromising  attitude  maintained  by  Cobden 
throughout  his  life  upon  the  duty  of  non-intervention 
is  perhaps  best  illustrated  by  the  following  passage  from 
a  private  letter  written  in  1858  :  l  "You  rightly  interpret 
my  views  when  you  say  I  am  opposed  to  any  armed 
intervention  in  the  affairs  of  other  countries.  I  am 
against  any  interference  by  the  government  of  one  country 
in  the  affairs  of  another  nation,  even  if  it  be  confined  to 
moral  suasion.  Nay,  I  go  further,  and  disapprove  of  the 
formation  of  a  society  or  organization  of  any  kind  in 
England  for  the  purpose  of  interfering  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  other  countries.  I  have  always  declined  to 
sanction  anti-slavery  organizations  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  agitating  the  slavery  question  in  the  United  States." 

To  most  men  of  our  time  this  doctrine  of  non-inter- 
vention seems  no  longer  tenable,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  economic  intercourse  between  nations  sometimes 
appears  as  a  fomenter  of  conflicts  in  the  business  world 
which  embroil  governments  and  imperil  pacific  relations. 
Many  men  of  Liberal  upbringing  and  traditions  have 
been  tempted  to  belittle  Cobden  as  a  statesman  because 
he  relied  overmuch  upon  the  logic  of  Free  Trade  as 
destined  to  convince  the  intelligence  and  reform  the 
fiscal  and  commercial  policy  of  other  States,  and  so  to 
furnish  a  reliable  cement  of  pacific  internationalism. 
Things,  they  say,  have  turned  out  very  differently.  The 
governments  of  other  nations  have  not  seen  their  national 
interests  in  the  light  of  Cobden's  teaching,  but  quite 
otherwise.  Overseas  trade  has  become  more  and  more 
not  a  mutually  profitable  interchange  of  goods,  but  a 
field  of  struggle  between  rival  groups  of  traders  supported 
by  their  governments.  The  foreign  policy  of  every 
1  To  Mrs.  Schwabc,  "  Reminiscences,"  p.  299 

4OO 


Cobden  and   Modern   Internationalism 

Power  has  engaged  itself  continually  more  with  pushing 
by  diplomatic  or  forcible  methods  the  commercial  claims 
of  its  business  classes.  So  far  from  foreign  commerce 
bringing  peace,  it  is  maintained  that  "  most  modern  wars 
are  for  markets,"  in  the  sense  that  the  underlying  motives 
and  pressure,  as  distinguished  from  the  immediate 
political  precipitation,  are  of  commercial  origin. 
Most  governments,  instead  of  abolishing  or  lowering 
their  tariffs,  have  raised  them,  and  have  put  more 
restrictions  upon  free  importation  from  foreign  countries. 
Imperial  and  colonial  aggrandizement  has  been  largely 
inspired  by  a  survival  or  a  recrudescence  of  the  very 
mercantilist  superstitions  which  Cobden  thought  were 
disappearing  from  statecraft,  the  craving  for  exclusive  or 
preferential  markets  and  for  territorial  possessions  to  be 
developed  for  the  peculiar  benefit  of  the  imperial  or 
colonizing  Power. 

Now  the  element  of  truth  in  this  criticism  is  for  the 
most  part  attributable  to  economic  developments,  the 
character  or  the  pace  of  which  neither  Cobden  nor  any 
other  statesman  of  his  time  could  have  foreseen.  Great 
Britain  in  his  lifetime  was  in  a  very  real  sense  "  the 
workshop  of  the  world."  Though  it  was  evident  that 
other  countries  would  copy  the  great  factory  system 
which  she  first  erected,  and  would  participate  in  the  new 
world  trade  which  railways  and  steamships  were  develop- 
ing, neither  economists,  nor  business  men,  nor  statesmen 
foresaw  the  new  conflicts  to  which  this  pressure  for 
foreign  markets  was  destined  to  give  rise.  If,  as  seemed 
only  reasonable,  it  was  as  important  to  buy  as  to  sell, 
the  possibility  of  providing  so  many  goods  that  they 
could  not  all  find  quick  and  profitable  markets  was  an 
absurd  supposition.  Cobden,  like  most  enlightened  men 
of  his  time,  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  France, 
Germany,  Italy  and   other  countries  would  be  equipped 

401  cc 


Richard  Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

with  their  own  manufacturing  plant  and  when  the 
immense  productive  powers  of  the  United  States,  in 
particular,  would  be  organized  for  manufacture  and 
commerce.  But  he  saw  no  reason  for  alarm,  quite  the 
contrary,  in  this  enlargement  by  each  nation  of  its 
productive  powers.  Wealth  could  not  be  produced  too 
fast,  for  the  wants  of  man  were  illimitable.  Each  nation, 
by  improving  its  own  arts  of  industry  and  commerce, 
was  also  by  a  natural  necessity  adding  to  the  wealth  of 
every  other  nation  with  which,  directly  or  indirectly, 
it  was  in  contact. 

Why  should  Cobden  be  blamed  for  not  perceiving, 
what  nobody  of  his  time  perceived,  that,  for  some 
mysterious  reasons  which  economists  do  not  even  now 
explain,  the  aggregate  productive  power  of  the  industrial 
world,  suddenly  enhanced  by  the  adoption  of  the  new 
mechanical  arts  by  a  number  of  nations,  would  so  largely 
outstrip  the  effective  demand  for  the  goods  which  they 
produced  as  to  convert  friendly  competition  into  cut- 
throat hostility?  When  after  1870  all  the  Great  Powers 
were  advancing  rapidly  on  the  new  industrial  road,  and 
most  of  them  began  to  safeguard  their  home  markets 
against  importers  in  favour  of  their  native  goods,  the 
backward  countries  of  the  world  became  areas  of  increas- 
ing solicitude  to  competing  groups  of  traders  and  to  the 
governments  of  their  respective  countries.  The  hustle 
for  foreign  markets,  to  take  off  the  continually  increasing 
surplus  product  which  could  not  be  marketed  at  home 
at  profitable  prices,  then  set  in,  and  powerfully  organized 
trades,  especially  in  the  textile  and  metal  industries,  began 
to  strengthen  their  hold  upon  their  governments,  so  as 
to  secure  tariffs  for  the  protection  of  the  home  market 
and  diplomatic  aid  for  winning  foreign  markets. 

Far    more    important    and    less    predictable,    however, 
was   the   later  economic   and   political   situation   brought 

402 


Cobden  and   Modern   Internationalism 

about   by  the   rapid  growth  of  foreign   investments  and 
the  direct  exploitation  of  the  natural  resources  and   the 
labour    of   foreign   countries   by    members    of   the    more 
developed  Western    nations.     The  stake  which  a  trader 
has  in  the  material  prosperity  and  the  good  government 
of  a  foreign  country  to  which  he  sells  cotton,  cloth,  guns, 
gin,   cooking  stoves  or   furs,   while   he    imports   rubber, 
coffee,   cotton,    ivory   or   oil,   is    no    doubt    considerable, 
and  if  he  can  get   his  Chambers  of  Commerce  to  bring 
pressure  on  his  government  to  support  or  to  extend  this 
trade    by    diplomatic   or    any    other    means,    he    will   be 
disposed  to  do  so.     But,  after  all,  his  stake  in  the  trade 
with  a  particular  country  is  limited  and  fluctuating.     If 
he    finds  his    market    falling   off  in   one  country,  he  can 
push    for   a   market    in    another,    and    there    are    various 
countries  willing  and  eager  to  supply  the  foodstuffs  and 
materials    he    wants   to   buy.       But    when    trade    in    the 
narrow  sense  has  developed  into  "  peaceful  penetration  ' 
of  an  area  in    Africa  or  a  South  Sea  island,  trade  begins 
to  be  supplemented   by  factories  and  collecting  stations. 
You    have  now  the  more  substantial  stake  of  a  trading 
settlement   where    white    men    live    and    sometimes   keep 
their  families,  and  from  which  they  stretch  out  economic 
tentacles  into  the   surrounding    country,  organizing    the 
natives    for    production    and    transport     of     the     natural 
produce,    and    setting    up   stores    in   the  interior   for   the 
disposal  of  the  manufactured  goods  which   they  import. 
But  this  is  only  the  initial  stage  in   the  more  elaborate 
processes  of  development   to   which   backward    countries 
with  rich  natural  resources,  large  submissive   populations 
and     weak     or     corrupt     governments,     are    everywhere 
subjected.      When   money   is  lent    to   Eastern    potentates 
for     personal     extravagance    or     to    purchase     warships  ; 
when  canals,  railways,  docks  and   other  solid   foundations 
of  civilization  are  supplied  ;  when  concessions  to  prospect 

403 


Richard   Cobden  :   The  International  Man 

for  and  work  mines  and  to  acquire  land  for  plantations 
are  obtained  ;  when  brand-new  cities  are  built  by 
Western  enterprise  and  capital,  the.  stake  established 
in  this  foreign  country  is  far  bigger,  more  solid  and 
more  permanent. 

Moreover,  the  business  methods  by  which  these 
schemes  are  financed  and  carried  into  operation  involve 
the  formation  of  powerful  companies  controlled  by  men 
of  great  influence,  not  only  in  the  world  of  business  but 
in  that  of  politics.  Foreign  policy  was  thus  destined 
more  and  more  to  come  under  the  secret  or  open  control 
of  powerful  financial  groups,  with  great  funds  for  invest- 
ment at  their  disposal,  whose  success  in  making  money 
depended  to  a  large  extent,  directly  or  indirectly,  upon 
governmental  assistance.  Obstructive  governments  must 
be  bullied,  competitors  from  other  leading  countries  must 
be  kept  out,  the  rights  of  concessionaires  must  be  enforced, 
foreign  lives  and  property  must  be  protected  against  mob 
violence  or  official  injustice.  1'he  acquisition,  protection 
and  enlargement  of  these  solid  permanent  stakes  in 
backward  countries  have  furnished  the  greater  part  of 
the  inflammatory  material  in  modern  foreign  policy, 
keeping  alive  all  the  time  various  issues  between  the 
Western  Powers  which  at  any  moment  might  develop 
into  dangerous  conflicts.  Some  of  this  finance  of  foreign 
exploitation  is  sufficiently  cosmopolitan  in  structure  and 
methods  to  keep  the  Powers  acting  for  a  time  in  pre- 
carious Concert,  as  in  the  case  of  the  six-,  five-,  or  four- 
Power  groups  for  Chinese  loans.  But  for  the  most 
part  competition  runs  along  national  lines,  and  each 
national  group  claims  that  its  foreign  and  colonial  policy 
shall  be  at  its  beck  and  call.  The  roots  of  this  economic 
expansion  of  England  run,  of  course,  far  back  in  our 
adventurous  history,  and  have  always  played  a  prominent 
part    in  our  colonial    and    foreign    policy.     But  modern 

404 


Cobden   and    Modern   Internationalism 

conditions    have  made  this    political    pressure  of   finance 
dominant  as  a  directing    agency.      Cobden,  as  we    have 
seen,  encountered  several  notable  examples  of  its  activity, 
and    the    famous    Don    Pacifico    case    evoked    a   formal 
endorsement    of    the    claim    of   private     profiteers    upon 
their    government     which    inspired     new    confidence     in 
adventurous    business    circles.       But    though    the    earlier 
loans    to    Turkey    and     Egypt    came    within     Cobden's 
time,  and   he   was  quick  to  discern  the  new  perils  they 
brought     into     foreign     policy,    it    was    afterwards     that 
the   full    flood    of    overseas    investment    with    backward 
countries    began    to    surge.       The    development    of    our 
own    railway    system,    followed    by  that   of   the    United 
States  and  our  own  Dominions,  took  off  the  great  bulk 
of  our  surplus  national  savings  during  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth    century.      Not    until    the    late    seventies   and 
the  eighties,  when  machine  industry  and  steam  transport 
were  developed  by  all  the  advanced  nations  of  the  West, 
did  the  immense  expansion  of  overseas  investment  with 
backward    countries    transform    the    economics    and    the 
politics  of  the  world.      In  every  country  there  were  strong 
financial    and     trading    companies    competing    for    over- 
seas  markets   and    financial    properties.      Foreign   invest- 
ments in  this  initial  stage  do  not,  of  course,  differ  from 
ordinary  export  trade.      For  the  money  loaned  to  foreign 
governments   or   princes,  or   invested    in    their   railways, 
harbours,  plantations,   mines  and    cities,  means  so  much 
effective  demand    on   the    part  of   foreigners  for    British 
engines,   machines,  stores,    or    for    goods  obtained    from 
other  foreign  countries,  involving    by  roundabout   trade 
a  payment   in   terms  of  British  exports.     The  difference 
comes  later  on,  when  the   British  capital  is  absorbed  and 
fixed  in  irremovable  concrete  forms  on  a  foreign  soil,  with 
its  profitable   use  dependent  upon  the  good  government 
and  social  order  of  that  country.     The  size,   precarious- 

4°5 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

ness  and  influential  manipulation  of  these  large  permanent 
stakes  constitute  the  dominant  factor  in  modern  foreign 
policy. 

Cobden  could  not  forecast  the  full  significance  of  this 
factor,  and  this  disability  more  than  anything  else  ex- 
plains his  too  sanguine  view  of  the  spread  of  Free  Trade 
and  the  healing  and  pacific  influence  of  all  economic 
intercourse  between   nations. 

He  could  not  foresee  how  with  the  ever-growing  sur- 
plus of  saving  in  the  older  countries  over  and  above  the 
demands  for  profitable  home  uses,  and  with  the  rapid 
expansion  of  credit  institutions,  the  rush  for  lucra- 
tive investments  overseas  was  destined  to  stimulate  fierce 
conflicts  between  strong  business  groups,  capable  of 
being  transferred,  first  into  diplomatic,  and  afterwards, 
in  extreme  cases,  into  military  and   naval  struggles. 

Modern  internationalists  are  no  longer  mere  non- 
interventionalists,  for  the  same  reason  that  modern 
Radicals  are  no  longer  philosophic  individualists.  Ex- 
perience has  forced  upon  them  the  truth  that  govern- 
ments are  not  essentially  and  of  necessity  the  enemies 
of  personal  or  national  liberty,  but  that  upon  certain 
conditions  they  may  become  its  creators,  either  by 
removing  fetters  or  by  furnishing  the  instruments  of 
active  co-operation  by  which  both  individuals  and  nations 
better  realize  themselves.  These  conditions  for  the 
liberative  and  creative  service  of  the  State  are  summed 
up  in  the  term  "  democracy."  They  did  not  exist  in 
this  or  any  other  European  country  in  Cobden's  time. 
He  did  not  believe  in  the  early  practicability  of  popular 
self-government  in  any  broad  sense  of  the  word. 
Governments,  as  he  saw  them,  were  necessarily  con- 
trolled either  by  the  aristocracy  or  by  the  new  com- 
mercial middle  classes,  who  were  everywhere  destined 
to  displace  the   former   rule.      So  far,   therefore,  as    the 

406 


Cobden  and   Modern  Internationalism 

lives  of  the  general  population  were  concerned,  all 
government  must  rank  not  as  self-government  but  as 
interference.  In  the  external  policy  of  States  it  was 
still  more  obvious.  For  diplomacy  and  high  politics 
were  everywhere  retained  as  the  functions  of  a  small 
privileged  caste,  working  upon  antiquated  models  which 
were  neither  understood  nor  influenced  by  represen- 
tative bodies.  Under  such  conditions  it  was  entirely 
reasonable  to  look  with  jealous  eyes  upon  every 
extension  of  governmental  progress,  whether  at  home  or 
in  foreign  relations.  Democracy  alone  can  make  the 
modern  growth  of  the  State  compatible  with  individual 
liberty.  What  Cobden  dreaded  was  "  the  servile  State  " 
which  is  actually  upon  us,  and  which  can  only  be 
destroyed,  not  by  cancelling  the  powers  it  has  acquired, 
but  by  removing  the  servility.  Extension  of  govern- 
ment has  not  been  brought  about,  in  this  country  at 
any  rate,  as  the  result  of  any  accepted  theory  of  State 
Socialism.  Each  new  function  has  been  taken  on, 
either  as  a  remedy  for  some  concrete  grievance  which 
private  enterprise  seemed  powerless  to  redress,  or  as 
an  alternative  to  the  oppressive  power  of  some  business 
monopoly,  or,  finally,  as  a  means  of  securing  such 
improvements  in  health,  education  and  recreation  as 
were  in  general  demand  and  could  not  be  profitably 
undertaken  by  private  venture. 

But  only  in  proportion  as  national  and  local  govern- 
ment become  democratized  do  these  new  functions 
become  really  safe  and  salutary.  In  an  oligarchy,  or 
a  sham-democratic  State  like  ours,  they  continue  to 
harbour  interferences  with  liberty  only  less  oppressive 
than  the  private  tyrannies  or  the  perilous  neglects  which 
they  profess  to  remove. 

In  the  domain  of  foreign  policy  the  case  for  non- 
intervention,   though,    as   we    have   seen,    not    absolutely 

407 


Richard  Cobden  :  The  International  Man 

practicable  even  in  Cobden's  lifetime,  was  substantially 
sound.  For  neither  had  the  conditions  ripened  for  a 
world  intercourse  which  now  makes  constructive  inter- 
nationalism necessary,  nor  was  it  plausible  to  expect 
so  radical  a  change  in  the  heart  and  conduct  of  foreign 
policy  as  to  make  the  organized,  friendly  co-operation 
of  a  Society  of  Nations  seem  a  possibility.  Non-inter- 
vention, in  other  words,  was  defensible  and  sound 
because  genuine  internationalism  was  impossible.  It 
becomes  possible  so  far  and  so  fast  as  democracy  gains 
ground  within  the  several  countries  whose  co-operation 
constitutes  positive  internationalism.  For  so  long  as 
the  conduct  and  determination  of  foreign  policy  remain 
in  the  hands  either  of  an  aristocratic  caste  or  a  con- 
spiracy of  business  interests,  or  a  union  of  the  two,  the 
mediaeval  spirit  of  jealous  statecraft  will  coalesce  with 
modern  business  greed  to  keep  alive  and  stimulate  the 
combative  separatist  spirit  in  international  relations. 
But,  so  far  as  the  needs  and  interests  of  the  peoples 
can  find  expression  in  foreign  relations,  the  deep  constant 
underlying  identity  of  human  interests  will  constantly 
react  in  efforts  to  mould  international  institutions  that 
are  favourable  to  co-operation.  Much,  perhaps  most, 
of  this  co-operation  will  proceed,  as  it  has  begun,  along 
other  than  political  channels.  The  international  govern- 
ment of  the  business  world,  its  transport,  trade,  finance, 
may,  after  the  political  controls  of  war-time  have  passed, 
largely  return  to  private  management.  The  great  inter- 
nationalisms of  religion,  science,  labour,  hygiene  and 
philanthropy,  which  have  spread  their  elaborate  network 
of  associations  and  congresses,  may  remain  for  the  most 
part  outside  politics.  But  in  every  one  of  these  fields 
of  free  internationalism  important  occasions  arise  when 
inter-governmental  aids  and  arrangements  are  neces- 
sary.     In  the    business  world  it    is   exceedingly   unlikely 

408 


Cobden  and   Modern  Internationalism 

that  the  inter-governmental  control  over  trade,  transport 
and  finance  which  the  war  emergency  has  evoked  will 
disappear  for  a  considerable  number  of  years.  It  may 
even  extend  its  scope,  taking  in  enemy  and  neutral 
countries  which  have  lain  outside,  and  establishing  some 
sort  of  permanent  inter-governmental  control  over  the 
whole  range  of  economic  internationalism.  The  tem- 
porary necessity  of  rationing  the  world  by  means  of 
inter-governmental  agreement  may  furnish  the  first 
and  most  substantial  basis  for  the  constructive  activity 
of  that  League  of  Nations  in  which,  it  is  generally  held, 
the  sole  hope   for  civilization   resides. 

Such   swift   transformations    of  half  a   century  it  was 
impossible   for  Cobden  or   for   any  other   mid-Victorian 
statesman  to  forecast.       Men    born    a    generation    later, 
in  the  closing:  decades  of  the  nineteenth  centurv,  found 
themselves   already  hurried    on    in  the  eddying  tide    of 
the  economic   and   political  forces  which,  in  their  over- 
haste  to  remould  the  national  States  in  terms  of  political 
and  economic  dominion,  have   plunged  the  whole  world 
into  disaster.     As  we  look  back,  informed  by  the  actual 
process  of  events,    we   can    learn    much    from    Cobden, 
both    as    the    clearest-eyed  and  firmest  principled  inter- 
preter   of  the  visible  tendencies  of  his  time  and   as   the 
statesman   actuated    more    fully   than    any  other  by  that 
practical    enthusiasm     of    humanity    which,    recognizing 
as    it    does    the     rights    and  uses  of  nationality,    finds 
expression      in    the    ideas     and    the     forms     of     inter- 
nationalism. 


409 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Lord,  78,   121,   125,  128,  154,    j 

167,  201,  284 
Abolition  and   President  Lincoln,  378-9  ; 

see  Emancipation 
Aborigines'  Protection  Society,  61,    240 
Adams,    Mr.,    American    Minister,    309, 

370-1 
Advertiser,     the,     supports      Palmerston, 

203 
Alabama,   the,  295,  298,   309,   311,   327, 

33°.  372 
Alcock,  Sir  R.,  315 
Algerian  policy  of  France,  54 
Aleiers,    holidays     in,    260,    268,    278-9, 

'    285 
Alma,  Battle  of,  113 

American  Civil  War,  the,  281-2,  288-9, 
3 3 '.386 
arbitration,  talk  of,  360 
blockade      during,      335,      352-3  ;    see 

Blockade 
Cobden's  sympathies  concerning,  282 
Confederacy,     Governmental      attitude 

toward,  290 
cotton-spinners  affected  by,  366-8 
false  prosperity  during,  386 
international  aspects  of,  12,  13,  295 
intervention,  Cobden  opposed  to,    300, 

306-7  ;  rumours  of,  385-6 
Lancashire,  effects  of,  in,  335 
Northern    States,    increasing    sympathy 

with,   369 
smuggling  during,  363 
American  Constitution,  amendment  of  the, 

384 
American  journalism,  176,  191,  214 

Cobden  on,  310 
American  sympathizers    hanged    in   Cuba, 

77 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  the,  171 
Annexation  of  territory  by  Great   Britain 
and   Russia,   32 
fruits  of,  338-9 
Anonymity  of  the  Press,  213-15 
Anti-Corn  Law  agitation,  194 

League,  36  ;  Cobden's  speech  at  disso- 
lution of,   38-9 
propaganda,  40-1 
repeal,  Act  of,  9 


Arbitration,  Bunsen  on,  99 

Cobden's  plan  of,  55-6 

Committee  for,  294 

Paris  Peace  Conference,  at  the,  56-7 

United  States,  and,  360 
Aries- Dufour,  7  ;    letters  to,   43-5,  246, 

270-1,  296-8,   321 
Armaments,  limitation  of,  76,  85,  91,  168 

Convention  proposed  by  Cobden,  279 

cost  of,   211,  263  ;  general    desire  for, 
336 

domestic  order,  to  maintain,  337 

French   and    British  memorial  relating 
to,  282-4  ;  possibilities  of  an  under- 
standing   concerning,    287-8  ;     dis- 
couragement  concerning,  289,  291 
Army,  difficulty  of  recruiting  the,  139-40 
Arraiv,  seizure  of  the,   192-3,  195-6,200 
Athenaeum,  the,  79 
Austria,  alliance  with,  177-8 

Cobden  in,  50 

France,  war  with,  242 

German  Confederation,  heads  the,  69 

Governmental  murders  in,  188-90 

revolution  in,  54,  69 

Balance  of  Power,  the,  10,  26,  33,  177, 
179,  301-2,  323,   330,  389,   399 

Baronetcy,  Cobden  refuses  a,  260 

Barracks,  Cobden  on  demoralizing  influ- 
ence of,  63,  76-7 

Bastiat,  7,  41,  46,  273  ;  his  work  on 
"Cobden  and  the  League,"  273 

Baxter,  Member  for  Dundee,  157-8 

Belgium,  fears  for,  92 

Berlin,  Free  Trade  banquet  at,  30-1 

Blockade,  effects  of,  295,  299-300,  335, 

349,  35 '-2.  354-5.  36° 
enemy,  a  help  to  the,  356 
European  politics,  its  effect  upon,  362 
rights  of,  280-2 
towns,  of,  356 

War  of    Secession,  in    the,   282,  288  ; 
Cobden  urges  its  abandonment,  292- 
3,  357  ;  ineffective,  355 
Bomba,  King,  see  Naples 
Borneo,  massacre  in,  58-62,  239-40 
Bowring,  Sir  John,  192-3,  196,  199-200, 
209,  217 


410 


Index 


Bright,  John,  7,  15,  22,  73,  115,  125, 
207,  242,  295,   329,  330 

Anti-Slavery  speech  by,  346 

defeated  at  Manchester,  193 

faith  in  the  Northern  States,  364 

letters  from,  200 

letters  to,  60,  106,  108-9,  394 

speech  at  Coventry,  37—8 

talks  with,  172-3 
Brooke,  Rajah,  59,  103  ;  his  diary,  60-1 
Brougham,  Lord,  271,  316 
Brute  force,  the  law  of,  238 
Bull's  Run,  290 
Bullfights,   Cobden   protest*   to   the     Pope 

concerning,  218 
Bunsen,  Chevalier,  99,  115 
Burmese  War,  the,  86-9,  91-2,  95,  100- 

2,  144,  222 
Business  men,  Cobden's  belief  in,  17 

California,  annexation  of,  148 

Cambridge,  Duke  of,  116 

Canada,  162-3,  339_4°>  383 

Canton,  trouble  in,  209,  220-1 

Capital  and  Labour,  16-17 

Capitalism,  Cobden's  view  of,  397 

Capture  at  sea,  right  of,  II;  see  Private 
Property 

Cecil,  Lord  Robert,  312 

Central  America,  Great  Britain  L,  148— 
60  ;  see  Crampton,  Panama,  Nicar- 
agua, Walker 

Charles  Albert,  King  of  Sardinia,  Cob.len 
interviews,  49 

Chartism,  55,  395 

Cheap  food,  16 

Cheapness  and  increase  of  trade,  35 

Chevalier,  M.,  7,  242-5,  249,  250,   273, 

274,  299-3°° 
China,  Free  Trade  in,  198-9 

revolution  in,  198 

specie  sent  to,  221 

trade    with,    197-8,    210,   221-2,  268, 
328 
China  War,  the  (192-232) — 

Cobden  moves  vote  of  censure  on,  193 

cost  of,  209 

criticisms  of,  210 

elections  during,  238 

protest  against,  305 
Church,    the,    and    the     American     Civil 

War,   133 
Ciceroacchio,  murder  of,  18S-9 
Clarendon,  Lord,  100,  152 
Class  cleavage,  22 
Cobden,  Richard — 

Austria,  travels  in,  50 

business  sacrifices  made  by,  16 

calico  printer,  as,  23 

China  War,  his  views  on  the,  193  ;  see 
China,  China  War 


Cobden,  Richard  (continued) — 

Correspondence,     11,     278-330;      see 

Arles-Dufour,  Richard,  etc. 
Crimean     War,    his    opinions    of    the, 

108-39 
Eastern  Question,  his  knowledge  of  the, 

2* 
erroneous  ideas  concerning,  15_I7 

European    tour    in    promotion    of    Free 

Trade,   40-53 
Exposition,  the  Great,  Cobden  and  the, 

66 
financial  troubles,  233 
Foreign  policy,  6,  234,  327  ;  see  Foreign 

Office 
France,   work  for  Free    Trade   in,   13, 
43-6,    242-77  ;    his    love   of,   272  ; 
appreciation  of  his  work  in,  274-7 
Free  Trade,  his  belief  in,  5,  15,  223 
French   Commercial  Treaty,  his  nego- 
tiation of,  242-77 
Germany,  in,  50-1 
Huddersfield,  candidate  for,  205 
internationalism  of,  13,  22,  23,  387-409 
Italy,  in,  48-50 
Liberalism  of,  22 
"Life  of,"  by  Lord  Morley,  12 
Morning  Srar,  chief  adviser  to,  141-2 
non-intervention,  his    belief  in,   9,  20, 

21,  26,   36  ;  see  Non-intervention 
Palmerston,  his  antagonism  to,  54 
pamphleteer,  as  a,  26-39 
Peace    Congress,   at    the,    56  ;    on    the, 

80-1 
"  Reminiscences  of,"  by  Mrs.  Schwabe, 

12,46 
Rochdale,  Member  for,  234 
Rome,  visit  to,  48 
Russia,  attitude  towards,  29-36  ;  travels 

in,  51-2 
son,  death  of  his,  i  37 
Spain,  tour  in,  46-8 
travels  abroad,  23-4,  36,  40-53 
United  States,  tour  in  the,  24-5 
"  Cob  lenism,"  16 

Co-operation,  free,  21  ;  international,  25 
Colonial  self-government,  390 
Combe,  Mr.,  21  ;   letter  to,  55  ;  115 
Commerce  not  furthered  by  force,  34-5 
Competition,  evils  of,  402 
Confederacy,    see    Southern    Confederacy, 

the 
Congress  of  Nations,  proposed,  57 
Constantinople,  affairs  in,  225-6 
anxiety  concerning,  92 
preferably  in  Russian  hands,  31,  34 
Corn  Laws,  Repeal   of   the,    16,  36,  61, 

248 
Corruption  in  politics    204 
Cotton,  16,  365-8 
famine,  322 


411 


Ind 


ex 


Cowley,  Lord,  244-5 

Crampton,  Mr.,  dismissal  of,  151-60 

Crimean  War,  the,  106-134,  306,  3S9 

Cobden  speaks  on,  at  Leeds,  1 17-19 

fruits  of,  124 

general  feeling  as  to,  1 14 

Leeds  meeting  on,  opposed,  12 1-2 

peace  proposals,  135,  143 

Press,  the,  responsible  for,  16- 

radical  misconception  of,  108 
Czar  of  Russia,  the,  109-10 

Daily  News,  the,    Cobden'*    criticism  of, 

70,   78  ;   120 
Daily  paper,  need  of  an  honest,  72 
Dalhousie,  Lord,  101,  230 
Dallas,  Mr.,  153 
Danish  quarrel,  the,  326-7 

intervention  proposed,  324—5 
D'Azeglio,  Marchese,  188-9 
Democracy,   the   limits  of  Cobden's,   396, 
406-7 

sham, 407 
Derby,  Lord,  58,  135,  193,  307 
Disarmament  and  Free  Trade,  37 
Disraeli,  201-2,  234,  325 
Don  Pacifico  incident,  the,  63-4 
Duelling,  Cobden  on,  72 

Economic  expansion,  405-6 

Economist,  The,  218-19 

Education,  164  ;   Cobden's  views  on,  39S 

Egyptian  fellahs  as  soldiers,  377 

Election    over    the    China    War,    193-4, 

238 
Elgin,  Lord,  261-2 

Emancipation,  the  only  justification  of  the 
American  Civil  War,  370,  374, 
378-80 

Cobden  on,  333 
Employers'  combinations,  Cobden's  attitude 

towards,  392 
Enlistment  affair,  the,  155 
"  England,  Ireland,  and  America,"   26-S 
England,  suspicions  of,  abroad,  41 
European  policy,  Cobden  on,  140 

tour,  Cobden's,  40-53 
Evangelical  missions  in  India,  236 
Evarts,  Mr.,  373-4,  376 
Examiner,  The,  78 

Factory  system,  Cobden's  attitude  towards 

th",  391-2,  401 
Far  Eastern    policy,   British,   brutality   of, 

325-6,  328 
Federation  of  the  States  of  Europe,  140 
Ferocity  of  public  opinion,  217 
Florence,  Cobden  at,  48-9 
Food  taxes,  17 
Foreign   Enlistments  Act,  1 5 5,  3  1 1,  373— 

4,   376 


Foreign  Office,  the,  manners  of,  313 
mischief  done  by,  53 
mismanagement  of  affairs  by,  182-3 
Palmerston  at  the,  54 
Turkish  tyranny,  supports,  18 1-2 
Foreign  policy,  the  basis  of  Cobden's,  234, 

327 
Foreign    trade,  403  ;  as    affecting    policy 

and   finance,  404-5 
Fould,  M.,   French   Premier,  opposes    the 

Commercial  Treaty,  250 
France,  Algerian  policy  of,  54 
alarms  of  war  with,  358 
armaments,  delusions  regarding,  284 
Cobden's  Free  Trade  tour  in,  43-6 
Napoleonic  wars  with,  98 
Navy,  her  expenditure  on  the,  291 
war  with  Austria,  242 
Franchise,  extension  of  the,  208 

Cobden  tepid  concerning,  393-4 
Free  Soil  Party,  the,  332 
Free  Trade,  9,  16 
Austria,  in,  50 
Germany,  in,  50-1    , 
internationalism,  an  instrument  of,  23, 

26, 244 
Italy,  in,  48-50 

Napoleon  III  converted  to,  III,  243 
pacific  influence  of,  17,  36-7,  43 
propaganda   in    France    undertaken    by 

Cobden,  41-3 
proposed  Prize  Essay  on,  37 
some  results  of,  400-1,  406 
Spain,  in,  46-8 
Freedom  and   Free  Trade,  Cobden's    con- 
ception of,  350 
Freedom  of  the  seas,  135,  168,  280-1,  351 
French  Commercial  Treaty,  9,  13 
Commission  on,  work  of,  234-5 
Cobden's  negotiation  of,  242-77 
disarmament,  hopes  of,  as  a  result,  259, 

264 
Foreign  Office  delays  signature  of,  259 
importance  of,  260 

opposition  in  House  of  Commons,  253 
signature  of,  259 
vicissitudes  of,  242-52 
French    invasion    scare,    83-5,    93,    230, 
263-4 
fostered    by  the    Government    and    The 
Times,   205-6,   292-3 
French  Militia  Law,  the,  83 
Friendly  intercourse,  international,  36 
Friends,  Society  of,  37,  80 

Garibaldi,  189,  323 
General  European  War,  talk  of,  322 
German  Professors  and  Imperialism,  379 
Germanic  Confederation,  the.  69 

desires  a  great  war  in  order  to  become 
an  Empire,  379-80 


412 


Ind 


ex 


"  Germanism"  of  the  Court,  181 
Germany,  in  1850,  69,  72 

British  people  veto  war  against,  324-5* 

Cobdcn's  reception  in,  50-1 

France,  idea  of  war  with,  265 

war  fever  in,  320 
Girardin,  E.  de,  9,  56,  76,  79 

his  eulogy  of  Cobden,  274-5 
Gladstone,  22,  126,  129,  163,  243,  244 

Cobden's  opinion  of,  201-2 

French   Commercial  Treaty,    his    hlyh 
opinion  of,  254,  267 

incredulous  of  power  of  Federal  States 
to  enforce  the  Union,  365 

Neapolitan     prisons,    his    exposure    o(, 
.36 
Godrich,  Lord,  220 
Guizot,  386 

Governmental  intervention,  Cobden's  dis- 
belief in,  393 
Grant,  General,  381 

Great   Exposition,   the,   Cobden  as    Com- 
missioner, 65-6,  73 
Greece,  trouble  with,  64-7 
Greeks,  Cobden's  opinion  of  the,  179-S0 
Gregson,  letter  to,  199 
Grey,  Lord,  126 
Gurney,  S.,  61-2.  116 

Haly,  and  the  Morning  Star,  141 
Hamilton,  succeeds  Haly,   141,   163,    165, 

190 
Hansa  Towns,  316 

blockades  and  the,  349 
Hapsburgs,  the,  190 
Hardtnge,  Lord,  98 
Hardy,  G.,  329 

Hargreaves,  W.,  letters  to,  271-2 
Herald  of  Peace,  the,  57,  130,  144 
HciM,\he  New  York,  383 
Hong-Kong,  cost  of,  196,  198-9,  269 
Houston,  General,  71 
"  How  wars  are  got  up  in  India,"    144 
Hugo,  Victor,  56-7 
Humboldt,  50 
Hungary,  revolution   of   1S48   in,  69,  80  ; 

further  insurrection.  178-9 

Illinois  Central  Railroad,  Cobden's  interest 

in,  233-4 
Imperialism,  birth  of  modern,  10 

Cobden  on,  195 

hypocrisy  of,  390 
Imports,  free,  20 

India,     abandonment       of,    foretold       by 
Cobden,  224,  272 

aggression  in,  389 

Cobden  against    British  occupation  of, 

195 

defeat,  Cobden's  fear  of,  in,  235-0 

hatred  of  British  in,  228 


India  (continued) — 

occupation,  British,  cost  of,  319 

poor  results  of   British   government    in, 
228 

trouble  in,  222-3 
Indian  Mutiny,  the,  195-232 

Cobden's  criticism  of  British  policy,  236 
Indian  Reform  Association,  102 
Individual   bargaining,  Cobden's   faith    in, 

393 
Industrial  system,  evil  results  of,  402 
Internationalism, Cobden  and  modern,  387, 
409 
Cobden's,  13,  22,  23,25 
Ireland,  Cobden  on   British  treatment  of, 

27-8 
Irish  famine,  the,  49,  54 
Church,  the,  28 
question,  interest  in,  abroad,  49 
Iron,  duty  on,  247 
Isturitz,    Senor,    on    the    executions     in 

Havana,  77 
Italy,  Cobden's  Free  Trade  tour  in   48-50 
Cobden's  opinion  of,  180 
danger    of   empty    encouragement     of, 

160-1 
Franco-Austrian  intrigues  against,  253 

Japan,  trouble  with,  313-15,  319 
Japanese,  Cobden  on  the,  315,  319 
Jingoism,  Parliamentary,  323 

Kaffir  War  of  1848-50,  73,  75,  86 
Kagosima,    destruction    of,     by    Admiral 

Kuper,   311,   314,    317,    319,    321 
Kincaid,  Mr.,  95,  100,  101 
Kinnaird,  Mr.,  329 
Kossuth's       extradition      from      Turkey 

demanded,   74 
relations  with  Palmerston,  178 
visit  to  England,  73,  79,  81 
Kuper,  Admiral,  314,  319 

Laird,  Mr.,  and  the  Alabama,  326-7,  330 
Laissez-faire  Liberals,  391,  398-9 
Lamartine,  56-7 

Asia  Minor,  his  domain  in,  69 

visits  London,  67-8 
Lancashire,  effect  of  the  Federal  blockade 

upon*  335 
enthusiasm  in,  for   French  Commercial 

Treaty,  2-S 

feeling     in,     concerning     the    War    of 
Secession.  289 

Radicalism  in,  12,  193-4 
Land,  access  to  the,  17 
Landlordism,  17 

Landivehr,  the  Prussian,  72,  225 
Law  of  Nations,  the,  74-5 
Leader,  the,  1 74-5 
League,  the,  and  peace,  93-4,  105 


413 


Index 


League  of  Brotherhood,  Baraar  for,  71 

of  Nations,  409 
Leeds  Mercury,  the,  142,  174,  23  1-2 
Liberalism,  Cobden's,  22 
"Life  of  Cobden,"by  Morley,  12 
Lincoln,  President,  378 
London,  concentration  of  troops   around, 

75-7 
Lucas,  S.,  letter  to,  395 
Lyons  and  Free  Trade,    44-5 

Machinery,  the  power  of,  18 

Madrid,      Cobden     attends     Free     Trade 

banquet  in,   47-8 
Magne,  M.,  251-2 

Manchester,  Cobden  speaks  at,  206-7 
decay  of  Liberalism  in,  80,  194 
political  influence  of,  180,  193-4 
School,  the,  16 
Manin,  178 

Maritime  Law,  reform  of,  360,  363 
Markets,  wars  for,  401 
•--Mason  and  Slidell,  295,  309,  334,  343~4, 
351,  359,  364 
Maximilian  of  Mexico,  296 
Mazzini,  173,  178 
Mehemet  Ali,  377 
Memorial   volume   on   Cobden    published 

in  France,  274-6 
Metternich,  Cobden's  interview  with,  50, 

253 
Meyendorff,  Baron,  51-2 
Mexican  Ciyil  War,  296 
Mexico,  Cobden  on,  297 

French,  the,  in,  301,  318,  321 
Miall,    Edward,    on   the    Indian    Mutiny, 

228-30 
Middle  class,  Cobden's  faith  in  the,  17 

views  of  social  evils,  397-8 
Milan,  Cobden  at  Free  Trade  banquet  at, 

.  .5° 
Militarism  fatal  to  liberty,  163 

German,  265 

increase  of,  243,  264-5 

makes  for  war,  85 

Militia,  debate  on  the,  88 

Minto,  Lord,  54 

Missionaries,    Cobden's    opinion     of,    93, 

1 00- 1 

Momteur,  Lc,  1 73—4,  252 

Monroe,  D.,  296 

Morley,  Lord,  his  "  Life  c  f   Cobden,"  12, 

19,  22,  54,  245,  311 

Morley,  S.,  letter  to,  282-3     - 

Morning  Star,  the,  Cobden's  hopes  of,  20 

commences  publication,  141,  144-5 

policy    controlled      and     criticized     by 

Cobden,     63-8,     141-2,    146,    163, 

171,   180,  195,  209,  214-17,  230-1, 


Mosquito  Coast,  the,  147-9 


Munitions  of  war,  trade  in,  371,  373 
Mutual  aid,  Cobden  on  the   principle  of, 
20 

Napier,  Sir  Charles,  227,  291 
Naples,  the  fleet  sent  to,  137 
cry  for  intervention  in,  145 
King  of,  the,  145,  161,  170,  173-4 
Cobden  interviews,  49 
Napoleon  III,  83-4,  95,  128-9,  134,  142- 
^  3>  170,  226,  320-1 
Cobden  endeavours  to   convert  him  to 

Free  Trade,  242,  246-8 
Cobden's  opinion  of,  248 
commercial  treaty  ratified  by,  282 
coup  d'etat  effected  by,  83 
friendship  for  England,  his,  348 
general  distrust  of,  249-50 
German  ambitions,  a  check  to,  380 
hostility    of    British     Government    to- 
ward, 259 
letter  to  Mr.  C.  Cobden  from,  276 
revolutions  in  France,  on,  248 
vacillations  of,  251-2 
Napoleon,  Prince,  256 
Napoleon,  Jerome,  276 
National  vices,  the  British,  327 
Nationalities,  awakening  spirit  of,  338 

liberation  of  oppressed,  177-8 
Navy,  built  under  false  pretences,  355 

large,  useless  if  blockade  abolished,  353 
Negro  apprenticeship,  reform  of,  316-17 
Negroes  in  the  Civil  War,  376-7 
Neuchatel,  insurrection  in,  190 
Neutrals,  rights  and  duties  of,  308 
New  Orleans  and  the  cotton  trade,  365-7 
Newspapers,    need   of  honest,    127  ;    pro- 
posals for  same,  129-30 
Nicaraguan  affair,  the,  54,  136,  147-9 
Non-intervention,     Cobden's     policy     of, 
9,   20-1,  26,34,  54-72,   78-9,    113, 
145,   171,   183,  387,  390-1,  398-9, 
400 
benefits  of,  338-9 
superseded,  406 
Norton,  Professor  C.  E.,  12 

O'Connor,  Fergus,  55 
Opium  trade,  the,    198,211 

War,  the,  197 
Oude,  the  case  of,  230,  2^5 
Owen,  Robert,  18 

Palmerston,  10,  52,  73-5,  77 

Cobden  sends  letter  of  remonstrance  to, 

257-8  ;  sends  memorial  to,  292 
Cobden's  criticisms  of,  54,  123,  153-4, 

•57,  159-  175.  178,  186-8,214,226, 

238,  287 
Cobden's    labours     in    Paris    thwarted 

by,  311-12 


414 


Index 


Palmerston  (continued)— 
Don  Pacifico  affair,  the,  64 
Greek  coast,  orders  blockade  of,  64 
intervention,  his  policy  of,  387-8 
Schleswig,  fails  to   involve   England   in 

war  over,  310,  323-4,  326-7 
Turkish  reforms,  on,  104 

"Palmerston  fever,"  205,  212 

Panama,  148 

Paris  Conference,  the,  137-8 
Congress,  304 
Declaration  of,  135,  355 
Treaty  of,  135,  288 

Parke,  Mr.,  action  of,  in  Canton,  19S 

Parker,    Admiral,    ordered     to     blockade 
Greek    coast,  64 

Parliamentary  procedure,  modifications  of, 
224-5 
Reform,  73 

Peace  Conferences,  94-5,  102,  105 

Peace     Congress,    in     Paris,      56,     304  ; 
Brussels,  81,  97  5  Edinboro',  293 

Peace  Congress  Committee,  the,  8 1-2 

Peace    Movement,    the,    11,    79,    166-7, 

337 
Peace  Party,  the,  66-7,  70,  80 
Peace  Society,  the,  37,  80-2,   129,  211, 

*4°,  3°3»  33°>  338 
Borneo,  and,  60-1 

Crimean  War,  and,  81 

the  Liverpool,  77,  79 
"  Peaceful  penetration,"  403 
Peel,  15,248-9,  284 
Penn,  William,  and  government  by  moral 

force,  239 
Persia,  trouble  in,  200 

war  with,  137 
Persigny,  M.  de,  250-1,  292 
Polish  insurrection  of  1830,  33 

problem,  Cobden  on  the,  32-3,  297 
Pope,  the,  Cobden  interviews,  48  ;   188 
Portugal,  fleet  sent  to,  54  ;   85 
Press,  the,  201 

corrupted  by  Government,  213-14 

gain  to,  in    respect    of   railroads,    tele- 
graphs, etc.,   184 
Prince  Consort,  the,  66,  181,295,  310 

attacks  on,  185-7 
Private  property  at  sea,  280-2,  363 
Privateering,  abolition  of,  135,  288,  308 
Privy  Councillorship  refused    by    Cobden, 

260 
Prosperity,  results  of,  212 

the  new,  Cobden   blind   to  unjust   basis 
of,  396-7 
Protectionism,  38  ;  in  France,  246,  254  ; 

in  the  United  States,  384 
Prussia,  claims  hegemony  in  1850,  69 

internal  troubles,  danger  of,  72 

King  of,  Cobden  interviews,  50 

loan  to,  suggested,  71 


Quakers  in  the   Peace  Society  and   Move- 
ment, 73,  80-1,  105 

Radicalism,  Cobden  on,  395 
Rationalism,  Cobden's,  273 
Rawson,  Henry,  144,  146 
Red  Indians  compared  with  Hindoos,  228 
Reform  Bill,  proposed  second,  a,  208 
Reform  Club,  the,  161-2 
"Reminiscences  of  Richard  Cobden,"  46 
Reprisals  in  India,  cry  for,  227 
Revolution  of  1848,  68—9 
Richard,  the    Rev.    Henry,  7,    11,    37-8, 
59,  60-1 
Cobden's  letters  to,  58-65,  67-9,  75-93, 
95-106,    109-17,    120-34,    141-91, 
195-232,     261-9,     282-95,   3°o-9> 
326-30,    383 
Morning  Star,  his  position  on  the,  165 
Richardson's   murder  in  Japan,   compen- 
sation demanded   for,   310-11 
terrible  reprisals  for,  314,  317,  319 
Rochdale,  meeting  at,  278 

speech   at,  on    the    Schleswig-Holstein 
question   and   war,  325 
Roebuck,  Mr.,  183,  201,  310 
Rome,  Cobden  in,  48,  188 
Rothschild,  Baron,  63 

Meyer,  249 
Rouher,  M.,  7,  245,  250,  252 
"  Russia,"  29-36 
Russia,  British  relations  with,  29-36 

Cobden's  opinion  of,  119-20;  tour  in, 

51-2 
England  defends  Turkey  against,  27 
peace  with,  unsatisfactory,  175 
protectionist  policy  of,  and    its   results, 

138-9 
war  with,  folly  of,  33 
wood  fuel  a  necessity  to,  52 
Russian  invasion  scare,  29 
Russell,  Lord  John,  72,  155,  167,  187-8, 

20i»  3*4»  37° 
Sumner's  indictment  of,  372—3 
Russophobes,  Cobden  on,  30-4 

Sarawak,  bloodshed  in,  59 

Sayers,  Tom,  271 

Schleswig,  301,310,  320,  339 
danger  of  war  over,  3  10 

Schwabe,  Mrs.,    author     of     "Reminis- 
cences of  Richard    Cobden,"  1  2,  46 

Schwann,  J.,  letter  to,  269-70 

Scott,  General,  71,  292-3,  350-1 

Search,  right  of,  345-7,  351,  363 

Sebastopol,  1 16 

Self-interest    as  the  basis    of   social    har- 
mony,  18 

Servile  State,  the,  407 

Seward,  Mr.,  341-4 

speaks  on  the  annexation  of  Canada  349, 


415 


Index 


Seymour,  Admiral,  seizes  ports  of  Canton, 

193 
Sicilies,  the  Two,  36 
Slave  trade  in  Turkey,  31 
Slavery  problem  in  U.S.A.,  169-70,  313, 
343,  353  ;  see  Abolition,   Emancipa- 
tion 
Smith,  Adam,  21 

Goldwin,  381 
Social    evils,    Cobden's   peculiar     attitude 

towards,   396-8 
Southern       Confederacy,       the,       British 
sympathy    with,  333 
disbelief     in     the     North's      power   of 

conquest  over,   364-5,   381 
hasty  action  of,  342 
means  of  subduing*  357 
recognition      of,    urged,    310-11,    355, 

369-70,   375 
ships  built  for,  370-6 
starvation  of,  impossible,  356 
union   with   England     suggested,     169  ; 
see  American   Civil    War,  Blockade, 
Cotton,  etc. 
Spain,    Cobden's     Free    Trade    tour    in, 

46-8 
Spanish  Bonds,  63 
Spanish  Marriage,  the,  54 
Stamp  duty,  repeal  of,  123 
State  Church,  oppression  of  a,  72 
Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  Lord,  225-6 
Sturge,  J.,  Lord  Brougham,  and   the  negro 

apprentices,  316-17 
Suffrage,  suggested  forms  of,  208-9,  2I2 
Sultan      of     Turkey    gives     domain      to 

Lamartine,  69 
Sumner,  Charles,  7,  195,  282,  289,  292 
his  career,  371-2 

indictment  of  Palmerston  and  Russell, 
his,  372-3  ;  of  France  and  England, 

375~6 
letters  to,  7,  12,  336-86 

Peace  Conference,  at  the,  36-7 

physical  assault  upon,  159,  340 

Tagus,  the  fleet  sent  to  the,  54 

Tariffs,  French,  262 

Thackeray,  225 

"Three  Letters,  in  1792  and  1853,"  93,97 

"  Three  Panics,  The,"   83,  279,  298,  3  1 1 

Throat  weakness,  211 

Times,  The,  Cobden's   criticisms  of,   78-9, 

126-7,  IS1-**,  142-3* '56.  l62>  '75- 
^  7,  1 8 1-2,  190,  227,  237,  240 
Cobden  attacked  by,  311 
Commercial    Treaty,  the,  attacked  by, 

263,  265-7,  35° 


Times,  The  (continued)  — 

inconsistencies  of,  263 

Kossuth  attacked  by,  74 

pro-Southern  sympathies  of,  339 

reaction  against,  360 
Trade  Unions,  166 

"brutal  tyranny  of,"   392 
Trafalgar,  Battle  of,  89 
Treaty   of  Commerce  ;  see  French    Com- 
mercial Treaty 
Treaty  Ports,  the,  305 
Trent,  affair  of  the,  295,  334,  349 
Trieste,  Free  Trade  banquet  at,  50 
Tropical  countries,  defects  of  colonies  in, 

239 
Turkey,  Cobden  on  the  folly  of  protecting, 

27 
Cobden    on    the    rotten    condition    of, 

102-4 
Great  Britain  the  protector  of,  27 
slave  trade  in,  the,  3  1 
Tuscany,  Free  Trade  in,  48-9 

United   States,  the,  Cobden's   travels    in, 
24-5 
crisis  in,  Cobden  on  the,  169 
Democratic  Party  in,  309 
Great  Britain's  relations  with,  28-9 
Ministers  of,  in  England,  151-2 
place  of,  in  the  world,  34 
purchase  of  arms  in  England  by,  309 
strained   relations    with,    54,    293  ;  see 
American      Civil     War,     Blockade, 
Emancipation,  etc. 
Universal  Suffrage,  208 
Urquhart,  Mr.,  26 

Venezuela,  debts  of,  63 
Victoria,  Queen,  124,  167 

edits    the  "Queen's    Speech  "  to   avert 
war,  310 

Palmerston,  her  relations  with,  187-8 

Walker  affair,  the,  148-9 
War  fever,  the  futility  of  opposing,  342-3 
Warren,  Mr.,  at  Berlin,  51 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  75-6,  85 

his    wars      not    defensive,     but     anti- 
democratic, 89,  96 
"  What  next  ?  And  next  ?"   138 
Wickoff,  Mr.,  214 
Wilkes,  Captain,  358 
Wilks,  Washington,  132-4 
Williams,  Mr.,  1 61-2 
Wilson,  J.,  218-19 
Woolner,  Thos.,  7 
Working  classes,  apathy  of  the,  395 


Ptinttd  in  Great  Britain  by 
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